Born in Aztlan-Meet Hip Hop Zulu King Apakalips (Respect His Lyrical Prowess)

We sat down and talk with San Jose rapper, activist, teacher & Zulu King Apakalips. He’s one of the Bay Area’s best kept secrets. Listen to the Breakdown FM Interview w/ Apakalips HERE:

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Download and Listen to Breakdown INTV

BreakdownFM-Apakalips Interview

 

When we talk about Bay Area Hip Hop we often focus on what is happening in Oakland which is considered Ground Zero. It is in ‘Tha Town’, that we find the likes of Too Short, Digital Underground, Keak da Sneak,Hiero, Blackalicious, Del tha Funkee Homosapien, Saafir, Zion I, Mistah FAB and so many more.After Oakland, the spotlight usually turns to neighboring San Francisco which is home to Bay Area legends like San Quinn,Rappin’ 4tay, Paris, Michael Franti,DJ Q-Bert, DJ Apollo and in recent days artists like Big Rich.

Sadly many overlook San Jose which is actually the largest city in the Bay Area and the epic center to high tech Silicon Valley.Perhaps its because San Jose is 45 minutes away from Frisco and Oakland which are just minutes apart or perhaps its because companies like Apple, Google, Oracle and other high tech giants dominate the news and overshadow SJ hip Hop. Whatever the case, make no mistake San Jose and the South Bay region has had major impact.

San Jose and the South Bay is or has been home to some notable folks who we all know and love.DJ King Tech of the Wake Up Show, producer Fredwreck, producer Kutmasta Kurt, DJ Peanut Butter Wolf and his Stones Throw record label started out of San Jose.DJ Kevvy Kev who is headed to his 25th year on the air, pioneering graph writer Scape One, female dance pioneer Aiko, Grand Diva Kim Collete, prolific writer AdisaBanjoko, Hip Hop Congress president Shamako Noble are some other names that also come to mind when we talk about folks who put the SJ and the South Bay on the map.Anyone from this part of town recalls the legendary b-boy battles that were routinely held at the Hank Lopez Center with the full support and cooperation of the city which was step up from San Francisco and Oakland.

This is the conversation we had with Apakalips a long time fixture in the San Jose rap scene who just released his masterpiece of a solo album called ‘The Otherside‘ Originally from Southern Cali, this community activist/ school teacher started out around 2002 with a group called Tributairies .They were best known for blowing up the Iguanas Cafe in downtown San Jose where they sparked off Lyrical Discipline.This was a weekly Friday night gathering which attracted emcees from all over the South Bay who would come through and test their skills.It was done in the same vein as the Lyricist Lounge in NY, the Good Life in LA or the now legendary underground parties and freestyles sessions at 4001 Jackson street in Oakland put together by Mystik Journeymen and the Living Legends crew.

Apakalips later went on to join the Universal Zulu Nation and eventually became the president of the Gateway chapter and quickly made it one of the more active chapters in the country. Apakalips would routinely hold unity meetings as he’d gather the heads of key Hip Hop and community organizations and tastemakers in the San Jose community to find common ground and to collectively work on projects impacting us all. He was tapping into the fact that San Jose had some of the pro-active heads who have some well heeled Hip Hop organizations around that have done incredible work. Shout outs to Hip Hop Congress, D-Bug, MACLA, Funk lab and Miese to name a few.

During our interview we talked about the release of his new album ‘The Other Side‘. It has been critically acclaimed and for many its a throwback to a date and time where people allowed their creativity to roam completely free without fear of violating some sort of record company politics or copyright laws. The Otherside has unexpected samples that give this an album your traditional boom bap sound on one track and a Latin tinged sound on another. Still on other songs you will hear the influences of drum and bass. No two songsare alike, yet the album has a consistent theme in terms of being gritty and lyrically sound.

The ‘Otherside‘ covers many topics including, California’s unique contributions to Hip Hop and its b-boy, b-girl tradition and its cultural influences. During our interview we talked about how Hip Hop is a form of communication and within it cultural expressions and activities like dance and rap go way beyond Hip Hop, and in fact are deeply rooted in traditional Mayan, Aztec and African traditions. Apakalips felt that it was important that we view Hip Hop with a larger historical and cultural lens.

We talked about the social and political movements that proceeded Hip Hop and how they impacted Hip Hop culture in the past and today.We particularly built upon the legacy of the Black Panthers and Brown Berets.Aakpalips reminded us that during the hey days of those organizations in the late 60s and early 70s we had Hip Hop expressions in the west coast with pioneering groups like the often overlooked Black Resurgents dance crew who were strutting and roboting long before Michael Jackson, dancers on Soul Train or the word Hip Hop was coined.

We talked at length about the important role Latinos played in Hip Hop, specifically the role Chicanos here on the West Coast. Apakalips lays out the long history and reminds us that just like their Puerto Rican counterparts on the East coast, Chicanos were down with Hip Hop from the very beginning especially in the areas of graf. He noted that here in the west Chicano writers, taggers and muralist had a big impact on Hip Hop.We talked aboutthe early emcees and deejays and the influence that icons like Julio G and Tony G who were part of the legendary KDAY Mixmasters in LA had on West Coast Hip Hop culture.

We also talked at length about the long social and cultural connection that NY had with LA. Long before there was some media driven East-West coast war, early Hip Hoppers were routinely going back and forth and building with one another. It was all love throughout the 80s. Apakalips talked about how pioneering Hip Hop and Latino figures like Hen G, and Prince Whipper Whip and Zulu King Afrika Islam hooked up with Ice T and helped set a tone for things to come.They set off famous Hip Hop club nights like Radiotron Water the Bush and Club United Nations and formed groups like Rhyme Syndicate and the Zulu Kings.

We ended by talking about some of the challenges facing San Jose’s Hip Hop community.One thing that is being addressed is the homeless problem. Apakalips and many others feel like the city hasn’t been doing enough. They are also addressing issues facing San Jose’s growing migrant worker population. In recent days they have also been dealing with an oppressive promoters law which requires anyone promoting an entertainment event to pay a 500 dollar fee and get a license which will allow one to put their name on flyers and pass them out.

written by  Davey D

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

 

Take Back America- Davey D Confrontation with Fox News

Take Back America- Davey D Confrontation with Fox News

By Paradise Gray

This years “Take Back America Conference” in Washington D.C was much more exciting and energetic than the one I attended just a year ago. There were more young people of color present and everyone seemed to have extra pep in their step. I began the weekend with The League of Young Voters, taking their empowering “Tunnel Building” leadership training program at the offices of The People For The American Way. The training sessions were good, and included veteren and aspiring organizers from all across America, some as young as 17 years old.

The new National Director of the League Rob “Biko” Baker and National Political Director Khari Mosley handled many of the training workshops personally. It was a pleasure to work with these brothers and I learned some great new ideas and concepts to use for organizing effective actions and successful campaigns. I was happy to contribute by helping to teach a workshop on using new media and the internet (Myspace and Facebook) as organizing tools.

On Monday March 17th we headed over to the The Omni Shoreham Hotel where Van Jones the President and founder of “Green For All” brought the heat to the Take Back America Conference at this morning. Speaking to an overflowing room full of progressive Democrats Mr. Jones passionately explained the benefits of an emerging Green Economy. His inspiring speech informed the diverse crowd about policies and initiatives that could create jobs, efficient energy, reduce carbon emissions and improve local economies.
Mr. Jones received thunderous applause when he noted that by retrofitting American cities with renewable energy sources such as wind, solar panels and other alternate sustainable energy sources it would ensure that we would never have to wage war for oil again!

In the crowd I noticed the Reverend Jessie Jackson, Davey D as well as members of The League Of Young Voters, One HOOD, the National Political Hip-hop Convention, Reverend Yearwood and The Hip-hop Caucus and members of The Gathering.

Keep your eyes on Van Jones and the concept of a Green Economy and Green-Collar Jobs. Van Jones is a dynamic speaker with a great plan, his final words “I am not here to “Take America Back, I’m here to take it forward” connected and resonated well with this large progressive crowd.

Things got kind of heated on Tuesday morning March 18 when the Rev.Jessie Jackson was scheduled speak on a panel “Progressive Movement In A Democratic Era: The Lessons Of King And The Civil Rights Movement“.

The energy was already elevated as everyone was anxiously awaiting 10:30 when Barack Obama was scheduled to give his historic speech on race relations in America. As I approached the Regency Ballroom I noticed the Rev.Jessie Jackson being interviewed by Griff Jenkins from Fox News. Griff Jenkins was being very aggressive as he demanded that Rev. Jackson answer the question: “Do you or do you not condemn Barack Obama’s former Pastor Rev. Wright?”

Rev. Jackson refused to answer in the way that Jenkins was asking, Rev. Jackson accused Mr. Jenkins of using divisive tactics instead of covering the issues that are important in this election, Mr. Jenkins would rudely push his microphone towards Rev. Jackson’s face and reiterate “Do you or do you not condemn Rev.Wright?”

I did not appreciate the way Mr. Jenkins was treating Rev. Jackson and loudly voiced my opinion as Rev. Jackson, annoyed by Mr. Jenkins unprofessionalism, walked away. Mr. Jenkins then interviewed me and and when posed with the same question of whether or not I condemned Rev.Wright, I responded that when your face down in a mud puddle with someone’s foot on the back of your neck, you should not be judged by the words that come out of your mouth at that moment, anger is the appropriate natural human response to oppression!

I argued that Rev. Wright’s sermons were based on real feelings within the black community and had foundations in fire and brimstone preaching directly from the bible. Mr. Jenkins attempted to cut me off in the middle of sentences but I continued that I could quote him hundreds of statements from the bible that he would not agree with and he would not even recognize that I was quoting the bible unless I told him in advance.

I questioned Mr. Jenkins about why he was interogatting Rev. Jackson so hard when Barack Obama would be addressing the situation himself in less than 2 hours, I suggested that Mr. Jenkins that we should all wait until we have given Senator Obama the opportunity to address it personally before we form our opinions.

I guess that wasn’t enough for Griff Jenkins because as soon as the panel was over, his FOX News TV crew pushed past other journalists on the stage who were asking Rev. Jackson questions about the 5th Anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq. Davey D happened to be one of the journalists who was patently waiting for his turn to ask Rev. Jackson some questions, when Griff Jenkins barged in and started dominating the conversation, repeatedly demanding Rev. Jackson to answer, and diverting from the questions that others were asking about the war.

Davey had seen and heard enough, he began asking Griff Jenkins why are you here? Aggressively pushing his mic in Griff Jenkins face as he had done Rev.Jackson, and stepping in front of a retreating Griff Jenkins asking, ‘why are you here?’

Davey encouraged others to flip the script on aggressive TV reporters that come in and try to set a tone that is contrary to the way that you are coming from, “you have a right to stop them from dominating the conversation and regain control. Fox News has declared war on people of color and puts them in a defensive position, not given them a fair chance to answer back to salacious charges and assertions. They have one-sided conversations by asking you questions and cutting you off before you have a chance to answer them. Fox News creates an agenda and then places people of color within that framework to underscore what they are trying to say”.

Davey D said that what they tried to do to Rev. Jessie Jackson was a perfect example of “ambushing someone with the cameras” they kept asking Rev. Jackson over and over “why don’t you denounce Rev. Wright?… And as Rev. Jackson tried to answer they would interrupt him with “why don’t you denounce Rev. Wright?”

Davey D thought that it was disrespectful, not as much towards Rev. Jackson (who Davey says can handle himself) as much as it is towards millions of people who can discern what is outrageous or offensive on their own without aid from someone who doesn’t go to the church so they don’t know how to put things in the proper context. Here is online video of the incident: (from FOX News)

http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x4rznd

written by paradise Gray
Foxguy
by luvnews

 

The Return of LA Hip Hop… Blu is in the Building

Whoever said Hip Hop was dead, obviously had not peeped Blu, a South Central LA native who defies any and all stereotypes we like to associate with cats from the hood and West Coast emcees.

For starters we have to take special note to the way the tall lanky emcee spells his name. There is no ‘E’ at the end and its a oversight that he often rhymes about. Second, Blu got hip to Hip Hop late in life. He is the stepson of a strict pastor who forbade him from listening to Hip Hop while he was growing up. His biological father is a member of the Bloods who listens to gangsta and Bay Area turf raps. To this day Blu’s dad calls him him ‘Flu’ instead of Blu. Thats how deep it gets.

According to Blu, he got turned onto groups like De La Soul only after hearing DMX. His musical upbringing and ultimate influences before being introduced to Hip Hop was centered around a diverse collection of artists ranging from Al Green to Thelonious Monk to Bob Dillon. It’s no mistake that the lead song off his ‘Below the Heavens‘ album is a remake of the Del’s classic ‘My World is…

Blu says he regrets missing the Golden era of LA Hip Hop which was personified by legendary spots like the Good Life and Hip Hop staples like Freestyle Fellowship, Jurassic 5, Project Blowed and the late Bigga B to name a few. However there’s no denying that his lyrical prowess and charismatic style kicks in where those legends left off.

Blu acknowledges that it was people like Charli2na of the J5 who sat him down and laced him up with lots of info and tales surrounding the scene of that bygone era. Much of what 2na told him was underscored by radio shows like The Wake Up Show and Friday Nite Flavas before it was unceramoniously taken off the air.

As Blu honed his emcee skills he cites Inspectah Deck of the Wu-Tang Clan, LA legend Cashus King and Planet Asia as being big influences. With respect to Deck, Blu says that he’s the illest emceee when it comes to kicking off a song. He cites the track Triumph as the one where Deck truly shines. Blu’s one regret with the new debut album ‘Below the Heavens‘ was not having Deck on. However when peeping songs like ‘Simply Amazing‘ you can clearly hear how he was inspired.

During our interview in which Blu walked us through a variety of songs including ‘Narrow Path‘, ‘Simply Amazing‘, ‘Show Me the Good Life‘ featuring singer Aloe Blacc of the Dirty Science Crew and ‘Bullet through Me‘ off an upcoming album called ‘Piece Talks‘, he admits that he has a lot to say and his feverishly working to put out 6 different projects which will allow him to get everything off his chest. He refuses to be limited by industry driven categories and limitations.

For example, in the song ‘Bullet Through Me‘ which is off the Piece Talks album produced by Ta’arach, Blu does an experimental cover of a Paul McCarthy song. He admits that upon first listens many will question where he is going and what he’s doing, but folks will learn to get passed any hesitations. His ultimate goal is to put fun back into Hip Hop and be creative. He also wants to help bring national attention back to LA and west coast Hip Hop. In 2008 where everyone is talking about Change, Blu’s attitude and outlook is right in step. This looks to be a big year for him.

by Davey D

You can peep the Blu interview on Breakdown FM by clicking the link below

Meet the Godmother of LA Hip Hop-Medusa the Gangsta Goddess

Every once in a while I feel compelled to do my duty as a productive citizen and generously give back to the community. Sometimes I volunteer my time. Other times I give money. Still on other occasions I give sound advice. Today I wanna take some time out and give some sound advice to anybody who is an aspiring artist as well as to those who have been around the block a few times.

My heartfelt advice to you is as follows; If you happen to be booked for a show and the promoter has you coming on AFTER this LA based artist named MedusaDO NOT DO IT. Have your manager re-negotiate your contract, but do not go on stage right after her. You may be able to get by if they let the deejay play an hour long set or something or you have an artist like KRS-One performing alongside you… Maybe if you’re a bit sadistic and like pain then following Medusa might be the thing for you to do. This woman is not to be followed.

Check our Breakdown FM Intv w/ Medusa

If you are a battle emcee who has won a few contests and you’re feeling good about yourself and your looking for new challenges-Be warned! DO NOT set your sites on Medusa. Don’t let your homies or an over ambitious promoter set you up.

If you find yourself on the bill and they schedule you to go one on one with her, the best thing for you to do is call in sick. Go on vacation.. leave the building. A true friend does not let their good friends get in the ring and trade lyrical jabs with Medusa. She will cause you extreme embarrassment, lots of pain and is likely to end your career if its in front of a large crowd. This woman who is often dubbed the Angela Davis of Rap or the High Priestess is no joke. Please Believe that.

When we look back on Hip Hop history one name that we simply will not be allowed to ignore is the Gangsta Goddess, The Angela Davis of Rap, the Top Cat of the clique Feline Science, the Godmother of West coast Hip Hop-the High priestess-Bow down to the one and only Medusa.

Most people know Medusa the ‘Top Cat’ of the clique Feline Science as colorful engaging pioneering sista who has been rocking packed houses here on the west coast for the past 15 years. This skilled emcee hails from the legendary night spot-The Good Life Cafe which gave birth to legendary groups like Jurassic 5, Freestyle Fellowship, Volume 10, Kurupt, WC and many many more. Anybody who was anybody paid their dues at the Good Life back during LA’s Golden Era of Hip Hop in the late 80s/early 90s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQAKXrJ5N5k&feature=relmfu

Medusa was a regular to this haunt and later Project Blowed, where she not only held her own but would routinely surpass her male counterparts. As she explained during our recent sit down, that there were many a days she had to step into the arena and battle her Good Life comrads.

One memorable bout involved Peace from Freestyle Fellowship who she took out during a Source Magazine battle at the House of Blues. Many who know Medusa and hear about her past wins are not surprised, this is a woman who once she gets on stage -all eyez on her and you can feel her energy down to the core. Like I said before, if you can beat a cat like Peace or even just hang with him, then you are truly-no joke…

Medusa has always been known as a cutting edge, fierce emcee who is always willing to push the envelope. This was best illustrated on another memorable evening when she first performed what is now her signature song. ‘Power to the P’ is a spoken word piece that pays tribute to the female’s private parts. Medusa wanted to see how far she could go in terms of kicking up dust while adhering to the Good Life’s strict ‘no cursing’ policy. She laughingly recalled how it shocked everyone senses because it was very descriptive, very provocative and yet still ‘clean’.

“It took a minute before everyone realized what I was doing. Once people caught they started cheering and flicking their lighters”, Medusa noted. She said the sexually suggestive content prompted the owner B Hall to rise up and make her stop but that brief performance got everyone talking to this day.

Long before many groups were on the scene with a live band Medusa and Feline Science were out and about in LA breaking ground. Medusa explained that she’s a child of the funk era and came up at a time when Hip Hop was still unklnown in many parts. Groups like; Parliament/Funkadelic, The Barkays, Confunkshun, Brass Construction to name a few were the order of the day.

She noted that she always wanted to fuze Hip Hop and funk and bring those two experiences to a new heights. She explained that using band allows for so much more freedom of expression. And yes her band includes a DJ. But as she noted, it was wrong for so called music critics to place limits on what Hip Hop should ultimately be. She scoffed at those who claimed Hip Hop was ONLY two turntables and an emcee with a mic. It’s so much more.

Long before it was acceptable to sing while you rapped, Medusa was out in the fore-front alongside artists like Lauryn Hill,Queen Latifah and the Force MDs who came before them who were paving the way by including harmonies and melodies with their raps and re-introducing that style to the Hip Hop audience.

During Hip Hop’s pioneering days groups like Crash Crew, Cold Crush Brothers and Grandmaster Flash frequently incorporated singing with their raps. It was considered Hip Hop back in those early days and then seemingly overnight it was a practice that was seriously frowned upon. It seems like some high brow, out of touch music critics got it in their heads that singing ‘wasn’t real Hip Hop’ and they went straight to the bank with that high profile distorted definition. During the period that Medusa included singing with her group Feline Science, it was ground-breaking. Today its commonplace today as we now have everyone from Mos Def to Snoop Dogg singing as well as rapping.

For all of us who know Medusa the emcee, there are many who recall that long before she rocked the mic she was a dancer. We didn’t call those who pop-locked, strutted, tutted, robotted and all that good stuff b-boys or b-girls back in the days. But let the record note that Medusa’s been popping since the 70s. She hooked up with a dance crew called the Groove-A-trons and been dancing ever since. During our recent sit down, Medusa went into detail about what the scene was like during those early days.

She explained how she first got exposed to emceeing via the song ‘Rapper’s Delight‘. Later on she was inspired by watching Ice T do his thing at the now defunct Radiotron which was made famous in the movie Breaking.This Godmother of west coast Hip Hop took us down memory lane and spoke in great detail about west coast Hip Hop’s early days. She also went into detail about the difference between spoken word and emceeing. We later morphed into a discussion about emceeing techniques including the skill it takes to truly ride the rhythm. Medusa also spoke about the challenge many emcees have in terms of keeping their egos in check. Far too often emcees overshadow the beats that are provided to them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaG25NR2xL8&feature=relmfu

Medusa also broke down the challenges one faces doing the independent hustle. She feels the grind is necessary but a good thing in the end. She said the trick to being successful is to be consistent. We also talked about the challenges she faced as a woman in the male dominated industry.Medusa started off by explaining that one needs to first love themselves in order to gain confidence.

She revealed that she was once incarcerated in a woman’s prison called ‘Civil Brand‘. It has since closed down. For her it was a wake up call and she came out determined to never ever go back, but she was also made aware and tuned into the plight of women who were starting to come into prison in increasing numbers.

She talked about this experience and how it made come out stronger and the end result was Medusa becoming how she came to form Feline Science. She said that came about after she felt she was being rejected to be a member of a group called ‘Masked Men’. Years later she realized she wasn’t being rejected, but instead being encouraged to start her own group which would and did become an entity on to itself. Everyone who got down with Feline Science both men and women all took on cat names with Medusa being ‘Top Cat’.

Medusa talked about how the music industry has seemingly only given a platform to one female emcee at a time. She recalled a conversation with Rah Digga who expressed the same concern about how only one female at a time ‘gets their run’. Much of this has to do with so called critics claiming that listeners can’t really tell the differences between female emcees. It’s an idea that Medusa soundly dismissed.

Medusa concluded our interview with Medusa talking about how women need to go about striking a balance between maintaining control of their art, but being willing to confidently work with folks and giving way to other ideas and perspectives when working on a project. Medusa talked about how being so rigid and controlling may have led to her not being able to work with Dr Dre. In retrospect there was a way to maintain ones credibility and still turn over control to a dope producer.

Medusa is currently set to drop her new album Gangsta Goddess. You can check her site at http://www. myspace. com/medusa

Did KMEL Kill the Hyphy Movement?

The Demise of Hyphy
Thizzle, bling, and blunts may have helped bring down
the overhyped hyphy movement. But KMEL pulled the trigger.

By Eric K. Arnold

http://www.sfweekly.com/2008-02-20/news/the-demise-of-hyphy/full

After breaking through to mainstream pop-culture awareness in 2006, the Bay Area’s youthful, party-oriented hyphy movement seemed poised to become the next big thing. Fueled by cannabis, thizz pills, and top-shelf tequila, hyphy’s uptempo, feverish sound put a psychedelic tint on turf rap. “Go dumb” became the rallying cry for an attention-deficit culture that spread like wildfire, taking over clubs and commercial radio. As silly as it seemed to outsiders, hyphy created an economy whose main selling point was regional pride, built around stunna shades, Bay Area–themed T-shirts, rims, mixtapes, and Mac Dre bobblehead dolls. Despite its ghetto origins, hyphy had surprising suburban appeal. Rebellious, rambunctious, and not a little subversive, its infectious energy was a shot in the arm to a moribund rap industry.

The Bay Area’s answer to Atlanta’s crunk, hyphy validated the efforts of the independent-label-saturated local scene, which had long struggled to gain a national toehold. Media coverage extended to such nontraditional rap outlets as NPR, Newsweek, and The New York Times. Hyphy’s potential seemed limitless; once it hit middle America, there was no telling what it might do.

Yet by last summer, it had all but disappeared from the music industry’s collective radar screens.

Many factors may have contributed to hyphy’s demise. Contractual snafus and bad business practices by some artists resulted in missed opportunities; major labels signed local artists, then delayed releasing their albums. National media made a big fuss over the controversial practice of “ghost-riding the whip” (putting a car in neutral and dancing on its hood or roof while the vehicle kept rolling). Additionally, hyphy was frequently linked to illegal sideshows, and there were reports of violence at concerts and clubs. Subsequently, overall sales figures never quite caught up with the hype.

Even so, the largest single factor in hyphy’s decline may have been the withdrawal of support for local music by KMEL 106.1FM, the Bay Area’s top urban radio station and a powerful industry tastemaker.

A year and a half ago, it wasn’t uncommon to find at least four or five songs by locally based indie rap artists in rotation at the San Francisco–based station. These days, however, you won’t find a current local rap release in KMEL’s top 50, or its top 100 for that matter. In fact, the highest-ranking recent single by a Bay Area rap artist the week of February 4 was the Federation‘s “Happy I Met You,” way back at number 187.

At present, KMEL is playing “a lot of Down South music … anything but the Bay,” according to Hannah Wagner, a publicist at SF indie digital music label INgrooves and a regular listener.

Author Jeff Chang, who has written extensively about commercial radio, feels the station has returned to standard programming: “You don’t hear a lot of [new] music breaking. You didn’t get a sense of excitement like you had a couple of years ago. It’s gone back.”

A closer look into the absence of hyphy from the airwaves found that while local artists bear a degree of responsibility for the decline of the homegrown art form, KMEL is far from blameless.

Specifically, the station

• yanked local rappers with buzzworthy records from rotation over petty personal beefs

• made it difficult, if not impossible, for artists not aligned with favored promoters to get access to station personnel

• ignored the advice of its own DJs on potential hit records by local artists

• put the kibosh on efforts to spread hyphy in other regions

• engaged in blatant favoritism toward certain artists, alongside other activities that contributed to the fragmentation of the local hip-hop community

• employed a two-tiered promotion system for major-label and independent acts

KMEL’s provincial attitude toward local rap artists is perhaps best exemplified by the station’s treatment of Mistah F.A.B., a charismatic Oaklander sometimes referred to as “hyphy’s crown prince.” According to F.A.B., a “personal situation” with current music director Big Von Johnson has existed for years. The rapper speculates that jealousy might be the cause: “Von wanted to be an artist.” Still, “It’s no bad blood, it’s no hatred from me,” he now emphasizes. (At press time, Johnson hadn’t responded to several requests for an interview.)

In 2005, the hyphy phenomenon was beginning to create a tangible buzz, and F.A.B. had the hottest song in the streets in “Super Sic wit It.” When it was initially played on KMEL, presenters announced it as a new song by E-40, one of the few major-label artists from the Bay, who appeared on the record.

Yet after E-40 invited F.A.B. onstage at the 2005 KMEL Summer Jam, the audience reaction was so overwhelming that even Johnson had to give F.A.B. his props. Soon after that, other F.A.B. songs were added to the station’s rotation. But his increased profile didn’t last long.

In March 2006, MTV aired a segment of the show My Block that focused on the Bay Area. Though other artists were featured, F.A.B.’s charming personality nearly stole the show; he appeared to be a safe bet to be the next rapper from the region to blow up nationally. With a hot album, numerous guest appearances, and several songs on the radio, F.A.B. suddenly found himself weighing deals from major labels.

Not long after that, F.A.B. pitched Johnson with an idea for a new, locally oriented show, to be called Yellow Bus Radio. But KMEL already had a similar show in E-40’s E-Feezy Radio, so F.A.B. took the concept to Jazzy Jim Archer, the program director at KYLD-FM (94.9) — located in the same building as KMEL. Archer green-lighted the show, which aired directly opposite Johnson’s on KMEL.

That, F.A.B. says, “really made it seem I was going after [Johnson’s] timeslot. I became his archenemy.”

By all accounts, Yellow Bus Radio was a success. The program garnered high ratings on KYLD and was syndicated by other stations across California and podcast by Web sites worldwide. In addition to playing his own music alongside songs by lower-profile locals, F.A.B. used his airtime as a vehicle for community interaction, conducting interviews, and, in keeping with hyphy’s special-education theme, reading book reports.

“I don’t necessarily want to use the word ‘movement,'” F.A.B. says, “but we actually started a big deal with Yellow Bus Radio, which was to give people a chance and an opportunity.” However, he adds, “I didn’t know it would stir up that much controversy.”

The show’s run ended because of the rapper’s busy tour schedule and because, Archer says, it was “causing F.A.B. some problems in other areas of his career.”

In retaliation for F.A.B.’s perceived disloyalty, sources say, someone at KMEL apparently deleted all of his music from the playlist; in addition, his verses began to be omitted from songs by other artists he had appeared on. “Once I started noticing that, I was like, ‘Goddamn,'” the rapper says. “That’s what made it look like it was an individualized effort to stop me.”

F.A.B. loudly blamed Johnson for the deletion of his music from KMEL. “I was real bitter about it,” he says now. “There might have been some things said out of spite.”

Without hometown radio trumpeting his buzzworthiness, F.A.B. says, major labels started to get cold feet. Atlantic eventually signed him in late 2006, but being persona non grata at KMEL “affected what their whole staff would be able to do promotionally” as far as breaking him, he claims.

Being blacklisted from KMEL also affected the rapper’s other major sources of income: money for “features” (appearances on other artists’ songs) and concert revenue. When he traveled outside the Bay, F.A.B. says that he was often asked, “Why you ain’t getting play in your own town?”

KMEL program director Stacy Cunningham confirms there was an “unofficial” ban on F.A.B., but says the station stopped playing his music not out of spite, but because he was “our competition in the ratings.” She claims to have “nothing but love” for F.A.B., but advises, “Don’t play the ‘Cry me a river’ card.”

Cunningham says the station never received a copy of F.A.B.’s latest album, Da Baydestrian, adding that even after Yellow Bus Radio went off the air, “there was no real follow-up by the artist.”

However, F.A.B.’s issues with KMEL may have had a domino-like effect on the entire Bay Area rap scene. Few of the artists signed to majors in hyphy’s wake saw their records released, and those that did come out were often significantly delayed. “Once they canceled my airplay, it put a big halt to the movement,” F.A.B. says.

According to former KMEL DJ BackSide, F.A.B.’s conflict with the station was “a very big part of why the hyphy shit stopped.”

The Bay Area has long had a love/hate relationship with KMEL. At 69,000 watts, the station casts a sizable shadow over the entire region, from Santa Rosa to San Jose. For many local rap artists, the perception is that the path to commercial success goes through KMEL.

In the late 1980s and early ’90s, KMEL earned a reputation for innovative programming, creating the blueprint for the “hot urban” format, a mix of hip-hop and R&B later adopted by New York’s Hot 97 and Los Angeles’ Power 106. Its annual all-star concert, Summer Jam, was widely copied. The station was the original home of The Wake Up Show, the first hip-hop program to be syndicated nationally. To this day, fans have fond memories of Wake Up Show exclusives like the 1995 Saafir vs. Casual battle, a defining moment in Bay Area hip-hop. KMEL is often credited with being the first commercial station to play the likes of Too $hort, MC Hammer, Digital Underground, Tony! Toni! Toné!, En Vogue, Tupac Shakur, E-40, Souls of Mischief, the Luniz, Mac Mall, Goapele, and the Federation.

Unfortunately, the station hasn’t always supported local artists. Following a backstage altercation at the 1995 Summer Jam, Too $hort was temporarily banned from the airwaves, as was Tupac just before his death in 1996 (“At least I’m in good company,” F.A.B. jokes).

In 1996, KMEL’s parent company, Evergreen, was purchased by Chancellor Media. In 1999, amid an industrywide consolidation trend, Chancellor’s Bay Area stations were bought by Texas-based media conglomerate Clear Channel Communications, becoming part of a national chain which at its peak had more than 1,200 stations, including several in the Bay Area. Even before the Clear Channel takeover, KMEL’s programming had become more mainstream. As former KMEL air personality Davey D recalls, “The playlist suddenly shrunk. We had to follow dictates. That was a rude awakening with respect to the local stuff.”

In 2000, Michael Martin, KYLD’s program director, became the overseer of both KMEL and KYLD, its sister station and onetime rival. Over the next year, Martin methodically cleaned house at KMEL, slowly but surely replacing the station’s core staff, who had forged key relationships with the local hip-hop community.

In 1998, Oakland’s Delinquents sold 30,000 copies of their album, Bosses Will Be Bosses. The group felt its single, “That Man,” had the potential to be a big commercial hit on KMEL. “We had a current record with a current single,” rapper G-Stack recalls. “We had a street buzz.” The Delinquents also had decent sales figures, moving 2,000 copies a week. Despite sending their music to the station, “they still wasn’t playing our stuff,” he says.

Out of frustration, the Delinquents and a large number of thuggy street dudes confronted former KMEL DJs Trace and Franzen at a club one night, demanding that they receive airplay; rumor has it that someone in the group’s entourage pulled a gun on one of the DJs. Urban legend or not, this incident led to a meeting at the station with the DJs and then-program director Joey Arbagey.

G-Stack remembers the meeting well: “We got up in there. They weren’t trying to let us in. We told them, ‘It ain’t gon’ be okay to ride your vans through the ‘hood.'”

Faced with the threat of retaliation against its marketing street team, KMEL grudgingly conceded a modicum of airplay to the Delinquents. But by then, their album had been out for six months, and the group’s momentum fizzled. “We never really had that radio support again,” G-Stack says.

The Delinquents’ experience wasn’t uncommon. In a 2001 interview, E-40 wondered aloud about KMEL, “If you’re ‘the people’s station,’ why aren’t you playing the people’s music?” And in 2003, producer EA-Ski complained that other regional scenes benefited from radio play: “Everybody else is supporting their music, but KMEL isn’t doing it.”

Rappers haven’t been the only ones upset with KMEL. Over the years, community activists have frequently targeted the station. One flashpoint came when Davey D, host of the popular public affairs show Street Knowledge, was fired three weeks after the 9/11 attacks when he hosted interviews with Rep. Barbara Lee and Boots Riley of the Coup that ran afoul of Clear Channel’s pro-Bush agenda.

In 2002, Malkia Cyril, executive director of Youth Media Council, formed the Community Coalition for Media Accountability, which studied KMEL’s social impact on young people in the Bay Area. Cyril says the station allowed local artists little airtime, and promoted music that tended to criminalize its primary listeners: young people of color.

In January 2003, the coalition met with Johnson, then-community affairs director Cunningham, and a Clear Channel executive who flew in from Texas, to discuss their concerns. Cyril says KMEL didn’t share the view that the station should be a public resource: “Big Von’s stance was — I’ll never forget him saying this — ‘This is my radio station.'”

Possibly as a result of the public pressure, KMEL added “Closer,” a jazz-tinged R&B single by then-unsigned Oakland singer Goapele, to its playlist. The song ended up being the most-played song on KMEL that year.

“Closer” may well have opened the station’s eyes to the fact that there were local records out there that could compete with national hits. Still, KMEL resisted opening up its playlist – until its hand was forced by the emergence of an unlikely rival that threatened its market dominance.

In April 2004, Power 92 (92.7 FM), an upstart station that branded itself “The Beat of the Bay,” began its existence by playing 48 straight hours of Tupac Shakur. Its playlist quickly evolved into a locally oriented version of the “hot urban” format. For perhaps the first time, KMEL was suddenly faced with real competition.

The battle for supremacy of the airwaves and the loyalty of the 18–34 urban listening bloc set the stage for what became known as the hyphy movement. Practically overnight, the radio was flooded with local rap music. If, prior to Power 92’s arrival, one or two Bay Area rap groups at a time broke through to KMEL’s or KYLD’s rotation, listeners now had a choice of hearing their music on three stations.

Though owned by the same company, KMEL and KYLD catered to slightly different demographics: KYLD skewed younger and more Hispanic, while KMEL’s core audience is older and more African American. By targeting the same demographic as KMEL, Power 92 represented a viable threat to the station’s hegemony. Once Power 92 emerged, artists could leverage their radio play by deciding to which station they would first take their music.

KMEL responded to Power 92 with what Davey D characterizes as a “corporate thuggin’ mentality.” He says labels, artists, and advertisers were allegedly told in no uncertain terms not to do business with Power 92. The new station’s street teams were harassed by what the East Bay Express called “Clear Channel shock troops,” who piled out of KMEL- and WYLD-branded vans and slapped bumper stickers advertising their stations on Power’s vehicles.

DJ BackSide had been a Power 92 street team member for just a week when she was offered a slot on KMEL. In July 2004, she started hosting The Hot Spot, a late-Friday, early-Saturday show. It quickly found an audience among hyphyites eager to keep their buzz going as they headed home after a night of clubbing.

BackSide rapidly became one of hyphy’s most visible proponents. In addition to her KMEL show, she hosted an online show at Warner Brothers-sponsored Web site www.hyphymovement.com; produced mixtapes hosted by such luminaries as Too $hort, San Quinn, and E-40; sold her own “Got Bay?” T-shirts; held residencies at non-KMEL-promoted clubs; and received exposure from national outlets like BET. There was a perception, she says, among longtime KMEL staffers that she was doing too much.

BackSide soon found herself an outsider among KMEL’s predominantly male DJ roster. She says she experienced some resentment because she was new and because she had come over from Power 92 (which has since changed owners and become LGBT-friendly dance station Energy 92). Cunningham says she respected BackSide’s hustle, but adds, “She was young. She didn’t know how to handle situations.”

BackSide alleges that certain individuals at the station did everything they could to get her fired or removed from the air, including accusing her of taking payola. On May 3, 2005, she remembers, she had just left the New York City offices of Bad Boy Records, where label owner P. Diddy thanked her personally for breaking one of his records on the air.

Not 20 minutes later, she says, she received an instant message from Scotty Fox, 3,000 miles away at KMEL. In a transcript of the conversation provided by BackSide, Fox takes an aggressive tone, accusing her of taking credit for breaking a record other KMEL DJs played on the air first. She denies it, but Fox berates her repeatedly. “U stay in your lane,” he warns.

Several times, Fox invokes the name of the station’s music director. “This is from Von,” he says at one point. After some more back-and-forth, he curtly states, “There’s nothing to talk about.”

A month and a half later, BackSide was told of a letter sent to the editor of RPM (an industry trade publication) accusing her of taking payola and requesting that she not attend the Mixshow Power Summit, a high-profile conference of the nation’s best radio mixers.

At first glance, the letter (which SF Weekly has reviewed, along with other documents supplied by BackSide) looks like an official document on letterhead from Clear Channel’s corporate HQ in San Antonio. It claims that the DJ was under internal investigation for accepting plane flights and other forms of payola from Universal and Bad Boy.

Curiously, though, the letter is unsigned, and has no return address. Furthermore, it seems odd that an internal investigation into illegal payola by a KMEL DJ would have originated not at the station, but at its parent company’s corporate offices.

After receiving a copy of the letter from RPM, BackSide says she met with Cunningham and Johnson. When asked who could have written it, BackSide gave a copy of her IM communications with Fox to Cunningham. She was then told she was suspended pending an investigation.

After consulting a lawyer, BackSide returned to the station the next day and handed a letter to the HR director detailing the conversation among her, Cunningham, and Johnson. A half-hour later, she says, Clear Channel honcho Michael Martin personally informed her that her show was reinstated, effective immediately.

From that time on, she says, she received a chilly reception at KMEL: “You could cut the tension with a knife.” Johnson, she says, “wouldn’t even look me in the eye.”

BackSide says there was no internal investigation into the letter’s authorship, although Cunningham told her the station had looked into her NYC trip and found she had paid for her own ticket. Cunningham says the station confirmed no one from the corporate office initiated any investigation: “Honestly, we don’t know who sent it.”

In February 2006, BackSide was fired from the station. Cunningham says the DJ didn’t help her own cause by falling asleep in her car when she was supposed to be doing her show, resulting in “dead air.” But BackSide says she played prerecorded music during that time, adding that she dozed off because her show was moved to 4 a.m. In any event, Cunningham says, “at that point, she knew she was not on the good side.”

BackSide’s departure from KMEL deprived the hyphy movement of one of its loudest supporters. By silencing her voice, the station closed a door which had allowed the artists community access to otherwise-impenetrable airwaves.

Currently living in Los Angeles, BackSide likens working at KMEL to working at a restaurant: “On the outside, it was great,” she recalls. “You go into the back and it’s a whole different story. Behind closed doors, [there] was a lot of stuff going on.”

Much of the dissatisfaction with KMEL’s support of local rap in recent years has centered on Johnson’s perceived attitude toward the homegrown scene. As the public face of the station, he is in the difficult position of having to balance the corporate agenda with community needs, while his boss remains behind the scenes. “Von gets the blame because he has allowed himself to be the go-to person,” says Davey D, who adds, “You’re not seeing Michael Martin; you’re seeing Von.”

In a 2004 interview, Johnson argued that commercial radio can’t placate everyone. “For the records that we do play, I could name 100 people that’s still upset,” he said, adding that he looks for “good records,” not necessarily because an artist is from “this clique or that clique.”

However, more than one local artist has found out the hard way that Johnson holds grudges for perceived slights — sometimes for years. “Big Von, he’s the biggest hater there could be,” says Sean Kennedy, CEO of ILL Trendz Productions, an Oakland street promotions company.

Frank Herrera, an independent promoter for several local labels, says that Johnson has done some positive things for the Bay Area, but “always seemed like he was unhappy with [local] music.” Herrera claims Johnson has “played God” with artists’ careers and says he often ignored the advice of DJs who advocated for local records they felt were deserving — most notably in the case of the late Mac Dre, often considered hyphy’s founding father. After Herrera brought Dre’s now-classic “Thizzle Dance” to the station in 2003, “his DJs had to tell him it was a requested song. Von was holding out on the record.”

Herrera also says that Johnson was nowhere to be found the day he brought Dre to the station for a prescheduled interview on Johnson’s show. Instead, the interview was conducted by another DJ. Although Dre’s 2004 hit, “Feelin’ Myself,” is currently in rotation, Herrera says KMEL “really didn’t start playing him until after he passed away” in late 2004.

In the July 2005 issue of Ruckus magazine, Johnson appears to take credit for breaking hyphy artists: “Name someone you knew of before I played them,” he boasts.

Yet Johnson may also have held the movement back. Davey D says he was present at a meeting with prominent Los Angeles radio DJs who had been supporting Bay Area artists. During the course of the meeting, it emerged that Johnson was asked by a well-respected veteran DJ whether L.A. musicians could get some KMEL love in return. Johnson reportedly denied the request; as a result, Davey D says, L.A. stations “stopped playing a lot of that hyphy stuff, almost overnight.” Reached by phone, the L.A. DJ (who asked not to be named) confirmed Von’s refusal.

According to Herrera, KMEL’s internal power dynamic shifted in 2005, when Jazzy Jim Archer left the station and Johnson took on a greater role in programming. “Jazzy fought for Bay Area music. I know that for a fact,” Herrera says.

The week after Archer’s departure, Herrera remembers going to the station and being made to wait for an hour and a half in the lobby of Clear Channel’s Townsend Street office as major-label reps paraded past. Eventually, the receptionist told Herrera that Johnson was unable to see him. He asked to speak with Cunningham, who reportedly told him, “Right now we’re not seeing any independent people.”

“It was a new regime. Things change,” Cunningham says when asked about the incident. But Herrera says other local promoters favored by Johnson were allowed access. Cunningham says the new policy allowed indie-label reps to make monthly appointments at the station, while reps from national companies were granted weekly access. “We have major-label Mondays,” she explains.

A similar thing happened to Kennedy, who says he had a personal and business relationship with Johnson dating back to the mid-’90s. But in 2005, the two had a falling-out. “That’s when he decided to roll with Rob Reyes,” he says, referring to the San Francisco DJ whose promotional company, M1, now handles the majority of major-label accounts as well as a significant portion of indie-label accounts for the Bay Area market.

When he was tight with Johnson, Kennedy was able to come into the station and give records to DJs personally, but after their disagreement, he says he was told to drop off the records at the front desk. With his access curtailed, Kennedy says the labels hired M1 instead, “because they can get radio.”

Now that he has fallen from favor with Johnson, Kennedy is willing to talk about the nature of their business dealings. Kennedy says he executive-produced five volumes of Big Von’s Chop Shop mixtape series, which didn’t do as well as other mixes by the Demolition Men, DJ Juice, or DJ BackSide. Kennedy says he ended up giving most of them away, but he still paid Johnson several thousand dollars per mixtape, with the unspoken understanding that Johnson would give special consideration to the label accounts Kennedy was working.

“I was coming back and giving [Johnson] money for records he never sold,” Kennedy says. However, he adds, “I never just outright gave him dough and said, ‘Play this record.’ I should have, though.”

Kennedy’s account appears to contradict what Johnson told Ruckus: “If you’re in the house thinking I take money, I never took a dime.”

Allegations of quid pro quo and backdoor arrangements might seem titillating, but the larger point is that KMEL’s machinations effectively limited station access to hand-picked local promoters and major-label employees. The end result has been a narrowing of diversity on the airwaves due to what appears to be widespread favoritism on the part of KMEL executives. This extended not only to major-label acts, but to local indies: Artists like the Team (for whom Big Von was the DJ) received considerable airplay, as did rappers with financial ties to M1, including Keak da Sneak and Kafani.

In 2005, KMEL appeared more than happy to go along for the ghost-ride. Yet both Malkia Cyril and Davey D contend the station had ulterior motives. They believe its support of local music at that time was a way to defuse activist efforts to challenge the station’s FCC license (which is renewed every eight years) during the public comment period that ended in November 2005. According to Davey D, “The KMEL that played local music did so begrudgingly, under pressure.”

In spring 2006, E-40‘s hit “Tell Me When to Go” made hyphy a national catchphrase. Davey D says KMEL responded by doing what he calls “superserving” local stuff, to the point where he started to feel that the station might be “trying to burn the audience out on the material.” Intentional or not, that’s just what happened.

According to Johnson, local music was outperforming national hits in 2004. Cunningham says Bay Area artists tested well in KMEL’s market research as late as 2006. But by March of 2007, she claims, “they slid down.” To the station, this showed that the “local stuff was no longer as relevant,” she says. “Everything has a shelf life … there’s only so much hyphy you can take.”

Asked why listeners aren’t hearing as much local music on KMEL anymore, morning drivetime DJ Chuy Gomez remarks, “There is not a lot of hot stuff out there. … It all starts to sound the same. Everybody wanted to sound like F.A.B. or sound like Keak. It got kinda stagnant.”

Archer says KYLD began to back away from hyphy because of concerns over violence. “The culture that was developing was, unfortunately, not a healthy one,” he says. Additionally, he says, KYLD’s programming became more focused on “core” artists like Justin Timberlake, which made hyphy less than a perfect fit.

It may be closer to the truth to say that once KMEL’s license was renewed, hyphy ultimately didn’t fit Clear Channel’s agenda. It’s well known that commercial radio has longstanding arrangements with major labels, such as artists who perform for free at Summer Jam for “promotional considerations.” By killing hyphy, the station could return to business as usual: playing national hits.

According to Cunningham, localism isn’t good for commercial radio’s image: “You can be a local artist and play up to where you’re from, but if every song is about where you’re from, there’s a problem.”

Ironically, she notes, San Quinn, Big Rich, and Boo Banga‘s “Frisco Anthem” is currently being spun on mix shows (though it appears on KMEL’s playlist as “Scotty Fox’s 6 O’Clock Chop Shop Mix“). In all fairness, local artists do show up frequently in mixshow airplay — which, coincidentally, happens at peak listening hours — but the artists don’t get name recognition for it on that all-important industry barometer of hotness: the playlist.

Even if hyphy has run its course, a larger question remains of why hyphy artists were the only local rappers KMEL was playing. The Bay Area, after all, doesn’t produce just one type of rap; nationally respected hip-hop artists like Lyrics Born, Blackalicious, and Hieroglyphics make music with socially responsible lyrics, yet were ignored by the station as hyphy scraped across the intersection of pop culture, leaving behind it a trail of empty Patrón bottles, half-smoked blunts, discarded pillboxes, and reckless-driving citations.

In a 2006 appearance at the Commonwealth Club, F.A.B. — who is clean and sober — told a sold-out house that he purposely “dumbed down” the lyrical content of his music in order to fit the popular radio formula and gain airplay. To a certain extent, the same could be said of KMEL, which stupefied the creative expression of a vibrant local culture — narrowcasting it to the point of redundancy and, ultimately, irrelevance.

Is Rap Actually Music or is it a Bad Influence?

Is Rap Actually Music or is it a Bad Influence?
By renee
www.associatedcontent.com…tml?page=2
original article-August 23, 2006

The world of hip hop would have you believe that rap is a very poetic way of expressing yourself through music. This can of course be true, but does what you hear from rap music sound very poetic to you? The influence that rap currently has on our children all around the world is unfortunately a very strong one. If you have not noticed many of the major leaders in the rap community try to get involved with good causes and political campaigns in order to make it appear that rap is a good thing. But have you really taken the time to listen to some of these rap songs? I mean really focus on the words and what they mean.

Eighty percent of the rap music that is currently on the top ten lists around the world contains violence. They glorify the acts of beating up another person, or even worse shooting them. Looking like someone who just got released from prison in their eyes is a good thing. Not to mention that half of the time they are yelling their lyrics in such a loud and annoying way you may not be able to really understand what they are saying. Remember this is where the fashion statement of wearing pants off of your butt and looking sloppy came from in addition to women who are half naked. What is the end result of half naked women in a rap music video?

Obviously girls think this is the way for other boys or men to notice them and to make themselves more popular in school. Another thing that rap music also seems to glorify is that what matters most when looking for a good woman is what her body looks like. This is why there are so many teenagers who have eating disorders or other emotional problems. They just dont feel that they fit the diagram of what teenage girls should like. Rap music also glorifies drinking, and sex. Two things which happen to be a major problem amoung many children today.

There are some rappers however who keep their lyrics clean and try to rap about positive things. Although the numbers of rappers who do this are very few there definitely are some out there who send a good message to children. One of these is Will Smith who has outwardly spoken about how he does not see the need to include vulgar language or lyrics in his rap music. So the bottom line is that when you are trying to determine whether or not to allow your child to listen to rap music, it is not so much rap itself, but the artist which they choose to listen too.

Rap music did originally start as a poetic form of music, it has just been distorted by people who choose to use rap as a way to promote gang violence and other means of self destruction. Make sure that you take the time to listen to the music that your child listens to. And dont be so quick to rule out rap music, just make sure that you take the time to listen to the lyrics first and then make your decision. For additional information you can visit the following websites: www.uic.edu, www.yale.edu, www.rapworld.com, www.rhino.com.

Here’s a compelling response to this article from my man Cenzi out of Chilee:
Hell yeah its a bad influence. I can easily prove my point with one example.

In certain countries that recieve hiphop music through whichever way possible, they start copying American antics, such as gangs. I have seen “crips” in the weirdest countries, where there shouldn’t be any at all. They only do this because of the whole Crip Walk @..%$ that popped off a couple yrs back. That was brought to them through hiphop.

Another example?

I can probably name about 10 different types of guns, some hard liquor I dont drink, different types of weeds, and I know about the word Ho as a demeaning way of treating a woman. and all of this thankx to hiphop. Now, I am old enough to take all of this in as “information” and leave it at that, but younger more impressionable minds want to hold these guns, try these weeds, drink these liqours and have a few hos…. Negative influence? hell yeah.

What can I get from listening to the other types of music? hmm.. no other music is so graphic in violent nature. Well except some of that thrash metal @..%$ that talks about some satanism… and yeah thats a negative influence too, buuuuuut, it aint and it will never be top ten material, not like hiphop, so it effects much less…

anyways.. I say this as a hiphop fan, and I love me some SPice 1 and Cold 187 lyrics (congrats on his freedom BTW), but I am old enough to discern bad from good. I wish more hiphop catered to younger minds. And I dont mean, give them watered down pop rap, I mean, give them more De La Soul, Quest and Visionaries…….

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

All or Nothing Mentality:

All or Nothing Mentality:

By Stephanie Mwandishi Gadlin
(StephGadlin@yahoo.com)

original article-August 23, 2006

I want to ask you all a sincere and honest question that isn’t
rhetorical or rigged with innuendo. And I’ll apologize for this
energy.but, Here goes: Why (overall) are our people SO complacent,
SO negative, SO non-energetic and ALWAYS willing to criticize, attack
and challenge any effort to make positive social change in one’s
community. Why can’t we collectively or block by block identify
issues, work on solving them, implement programs, be creative in our
approach, stay focused and dedicated to the tasks at hand.

I don’t believe this is a crab in the barrel syndrome it is something
much deeper and much more calculated. But what is it? Help me put a
finger on this.

I am convinced that many of our people would rather have ALL of
nothing than be a part of a LITTLE of something.  Some would rather
have ALL of the pain and the problems rather than be involved in
easing some of the pain; solving SOME of the problems, day by day,
walk by walk.  Its like the gang banger who is holding down a block
that he does not even own. His power is a false but brutal power.

I have experienced incidents where a certain well known “leader” is
criticized for not being in the `hood or not being accessible to
the `grassroots.’ They said he was flying all over the globe and
would never set foot in the `hood.’ Then when you say okay, how about
I solve that problem and bring the leader to the hood, bring the
leader with RESOURCES to the hood, the leader is attacked for doing
what..COMING TO THE HOOD!??? “What the hell are you doing out here,”
or “Go back to the so an  so!” “You’re just running a bunch of B.S.”
or “You’re trying to pimp the people.”

On the flip side here in Chicago many of the resources for our
oppressed neighborhoods are restricted and held up by Negro “power
blockers.” They play this class game and this popularity game where
if an Upperclass Negro declares `you’re in” then you’re inbut if you
don’t come the “right way” (That means kiss a whole lot of bougie
Black behind) then you’re out and they will block everything you do.
They elevate and celebrate and reward themselves at their benefits,
luncheons and parties and talk about how they `overcame’ while in the
meantime they do NOTHING, nadda, not-a-thing, to assist and aide in
lifting the economic tensions and oppression of the majority of
people in the communitywhom they claim to represent. This group
likes to talk about how much consumer spending Black folk have; and
then they build their businesses off the selling of this information.

So grassroots, everyday people have no access to their own media;
their own (big) businesses; their own politicians; and the things
they really sacrificed to obtain. Is this what Dr. King died for?
What about El-Hajj Malik Shabazz (Malcolm X)? So when Marcus Garvey
was talking “do for self” is this what he really meant?

The Upperlcass Negroes where I live said nothing as the people in the

projects were run out of their homes. In fact the encouraged the
tearing down of these slums; yet, demanded not a plan for re-location
for the people. Since their homes are paid for, they said nothing
about gentrification of neighborhoods. They don’t care that the
biggest Black paper in town is a racist rag called the Sun-Times.
They are applauding the city’s only Black owned radio station cutting
a suspect deal with Clear Channel. Because they eat everyday, they
say nothing about the lack of grocery stores and clinics and health
resources for the poor. Since they don’t eat gyros and polishes, they
don’t care about closing their restaurants and allowing the Koreans
and Arabs to feed our people.

Okay, I know some of us suffer from `mentacide,’ and I am fully aware
that there are operatives, paid and rewarded, to keep confusion and
inactivity brewing in many of our urban communities. I understand
COINTELPRO, but why do we continue to fall victim to it. Poverty is
good business for a whole lot of people, right?

So I vent out of frustration. I know the answer is to struggle
forward. But I must pause and ask these questions. Is anyone feeling
me out there? Are there any answers? Is there no fight left?

Stephanie

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

Is Busta on Steroids? Beating Victims Speaks Out

dbanner1newparis
Is Busta on Steroids? Beating Victims Speaks Out

bustarhymeslook225A while back we ran an interview with former Source owners Dave Mays & Benzino shortly after Busta and Mays had their altercation in Miami. The end result was Mays getting hit upside the head with a bottle and having to get stitches. Benzino alluded to the fact that Busta was on steroids and needed to check himself. At first many of us laughed it off and attributed the remarks to a jealous Benzino, but in lieu of this latest altercation, one can’t be too sure.. What’s really going on?

Beating victim recounts rappers rampage,
BY NICOLE BODE and ALISON GENDAR
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
playahata.com/hatablog/?p=1801#more-1801
original article-August 22, 2006
Busta Rhyme victim was a former fan and plans to file a civil lawsuit after the teen suffered a concussion and a split lip. His violent unprovoked account gives credence to rumors of steroid rage. (This sounds more legitimate than Buster Rhymes story.)

One moment, Roberto Lebron was telling Busta Rhymes he was a big fan – and the next thing he knew, the rapper was kicking him in the face.

That was the dramatic account offered yesterday by the 19-year-old Bronx man, whose allegations of a Chelsea beat-down landed Rhymes in his latest scrape with the law.

While I was on the ground, he was kicking me in the face, Lebron said yesterday. I saw him kick me.
Lebrons crime, he said, was accidentally spitting on Bustas ride on Aug. 12.

Me and my friends were walking across the street. I spit on the street and it landed on a moving car. It was a Maybach. That car stopped, along with two black SUVs.

People came out and they were walking up to me. We realized it was Busta Rhymes, Lebron said in a phone interview arranged by his lawyer.

He asked me, Homie, did you spit on my car? I said Sorry, I didnt mean to. Were big fans of yours. That was the last thing I said, Lebron recalled.

One of his people hit me in the face and I fell on the ground – and then Rhymes came over to finish the job, he said.

Lebron said the star and his crew kicked and punched him in the middle of Sixth Ave. near 19th St. – then yanked his Nike sneakers off his feet and tossed them away.

Rhymes beefy posse kept Lebrons three friends from coming to his aid, and bolted after about two minutes, he said.

I guess they got tired of beating me up, said Lebron, who was a student at John Jay College of Criminal Justice until he took a full-time job hooking up televisions in hospital rooms.

Lebron filed a formal criminal complaint on Saturday, and cops busted Rhymes after his concert at Randalls Island.

Here’s a response from my man C Wise regarding that question…

I keep telling folks this is a mid-life/end of career crisis this man is going through. I’m not a doctor nor do I claim to be one, but Busta’s behavior over the past year has drawn those to believe he’s suffering from roid rage. He’s been in some many different altercations, even with a security detail, Busta seems to find himself drawn into these conflicts, some of which sound like they can be avoided by just walking away.
After learning more about what happened to Proof back in April, it made me realize that black men seem to be the ones killing each other more and more everyday. We are often thrown in to situations that can result in violence. I’m not trying to rip off the Boondocks, but lately Busta is making headlines for various “Nigga Moments”, and I’m afraid the pattern he is following may result in us saying another RIP to another Hip-Hop legend. :|

Is it Steroids? I don’t know and I don’t want to be the one to ask either.

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The Prophecy of Hip-Hop

dbanner1newparis
The Prophecy of Hip-hop
by DJ Paradise Gray of X-Clan
original article-21 2006

paradisexclansit“Government Intelligence” is a misnomer. With at least a 30 some odd Billion dollar budget, the pre 911 “Intelligence” Agencies didn’t have a clue about what was going on. In spite of the reports of Arab men at flight schools asking to learn how to fly but not how to land. That was a clue that I would expect the lowest level security guard to alert on. How did they miss that? To borrow a line from Keith Sweat “Something Just Aint’ Right”. What I do know is that I’m very uncomfortable with the people who have their fingers on the red buttons. I’m no conspiracy theorist but Bush is looking more and more like Senator Palpatine to me by the day.

Some people may think that rappers are no rocket scientists, but either someone’s lying about what they knew or rappers are clairvoyant, because they sure did a heck of alot better job than the government, understanding the danger and possibilities for terrorist attacks on The World Trade Center.

Eric B & Rakim’s song “Casualties Of War“, released in 1992 on the “Don’t Sweat the Technique” album, Rakim says:

“So now I wait for terrorists to attack,
when a truck back fires, I fire back,
I DUCK FOR SHELTER WHEN A PLANE FLYS OVER ME,
REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR? NEW YORK WILL BE OVER G”,
Kamikaze, strapped with bombs,
No peace in the East, they want revenge for Saddam”.

Equally prophetic and kinda weird is this next one from Busta Rhymes who seems to stay in the news lately.
(Hip-hop Cointel Pro is on you Busta! Be very carefull, you are probably being set up for a big fall).

Busta rhymes song “Against All Odds” from the 1998 album: “Extinction Level Event (The Final World Front)”

Busta’s prophecy is two-fold here, a combination of both of the other examples.

First Busta’s E.L.E. cd cover features lower Manhattan (the area where the World Trade Center was located) going up in a large blaze of fire, then at 1.19 of the track (911 backwards) – Busta Says:

“DESTROY ANY ARCH RIVAL, OR ANY CHALLENGER,
MAKE YOU REMEMBER THIS DAY NIGGA, MARK IT ON YA CALENDER,
I’m showin’ you somethin’, you ain’t sayin’ nothin’,
My niggaz make noise like a bunch of volcanoes errupting,
NONE OF Y’ALL NIGGAZ REALLY WANNA WAR,
THE TYPE OF NIGGA TO CRASH MY PLANE IN YOUR BUILDING IN THE NAME OF ALLAH”

No wonder they keep hunting him down like his name was Osama Bin Busta!

And last (but not least), The Coup, their CD cover never got released to the public, however it is still pretty easy to find on the internet:

The planned cover art created in June 2001 for The Coup’s “Party Music” album depicts The Coup with an exploding World Trade Center in the background, Coup DJ Pam the Funktress conducts the proceedings with 2 batons as “Boots” Riley handles what looks like a detonator but is actually a guitar tuner. The Cd was released in November 2001 with a different cover after the actual attacks on the World Trade Center.

Could this all just be a coincidence?


Paradise Gray
Honorary Chairman, Pittsburgh LOC
National Political Hip-hop Convention
Grand Arkitech Of The BlackWatch Movement
Minister Of Arts And Sciences Millions More Movement
Director Of Almost Home Youth Ministries
One Hood
www.myspace.com/paradisegray

An Open Letter from DJ Afrika Bambaataa

dbanner1newparis

original article-August 15, 2006

PEACE AND BLESSING TO All of Our Family of Warriors, Thinkers and Leaders:

afrikabambataashadescolorHope your are in the best of Health and your families. I was sent your e-mail by the Zulu-staff . I have been living in Europe for the past couple of months and been waking as many up to what we’re, doing in the states cause in some places they have the same problems with radio,especially the ones that copy The United States formats or programming of music. Then there are those specials stations that do have a balance of Ma’at on the airwaves and you hear it all.

One thing that did bother me is that these so called Rap /Hip Hop radio stations here in some parts of Germany, France, Estonia, Croatia, Spain and even good old Great Britain underground play alot of the rap records with cursing. Their excuse is the people do not know the language anyway and my answer to them is, that is bull and you DJ’s know there are many that do know some type of English and many of your are playing the curse version cause your think that makes your hardcore and down with the tuff side of what your think the United States Hip Hop/Rap is all about. That your all are helping with the conspiracy to mess up minds all over the world. After I got finish with some of these so called Hip Hop/ Music show host ,you know they could not wait to get me out of their radio stations. Especially some of the jive ones who think they know it all about Hip Hop/Funk/Soul/Rock/Latin/Soca/Jazz/House/Techno in England and other places to many to name.

You can feel the phony in all of them and their are a very few I can say who really do not know what their doing but there are the rest of them that exactly know what they are doing to the airwaves. Guess what! their are many and I mean many over here in Europe who are also tired of their radio stations that play the same music over and over again,as well as their media of television. Also Family The NWO is getting in full swing here and Mr. Tony Blair of the United Kingdom (England) is talking strong now about their Smart cards that are coming and if he is speaking strong now about it, you know their children of the UK= USA will be following to.

Family there is so much work to be done that it is disgrace-full to see with all this chaos all over the world going on,all the problems in MaMa Afrika, In India, The States and South America with crazy things happening in Europe to and those of us that do have the serious knowledge, we know what is really going on and have to prepare now if we are to survive the onslaught that is coming. All the things I have been talking for years is on the move right before us and if you hear what brother Phil Valentine, Bobby Hemit,and many of the Meta physical community of higher learning have been dropping, it is about to get super serious. The people’s mind set all over this Great Planet is jacked up and the programming of these radio and T.V shows is playing a super big role to destroy Human mentality to think and to reason. If we can not get a movement of Humans to try and change the programming of these radio and T.V. stations which is just one step of many ,then we have some serious reactions of hell that will be all over this Earth.

I would like for your if you can and whomever else to put a list of solutions that we can put together with others on a cross the board scale that all states even other countries can follow in letting people know what can they do to help change the situations of programming of Radio and Television. We want to put as many things out with flyers to give out to all that will come out in November for The Meeting of The Mind ,The Balance Of Ma’at. We are going for two days to address this situation and with these papers of solutions we are calling on everyone to be accountable to what is going on in their respected Cities, Towns, States, Countries to move into action cause if they do nothing ,Then They Deserve What They Get. Also we need to reach out to many Leaders, Thinkers, Activist, Religious Heads, Movers, Actionist to represent and come out with solutions to this event for Hip Hop History Month and to all that are doing something to make change, we must push, salute and help back to the fullest our support. Stop the Killing of the Mind.

I will be back soon. If Allah willing, but you can start speaking to Brother Yoda, Dr. Shaka (zulustaff@earthlink.net) and to whomever else for we can make a movement more successful. We all have been speaking, fighting, teaching,s truggling, winning some for a moment, losing some but keep on pushing to keep what we know is right to do.

As I said many times before The Lucerferians are on the move and the Armies of Almighty RA/Allah/Jah/Yaweh/Elohim/Anu/Theos/Shango/Zeus/Oden and whatever else people want to call the Supreme Force must Rise or The Empire will Strike Back to bring Hell all over This planet so called Earth.

May The Supreme Force Bless Us All and keep Us All Always Protected against All our Enemies.

Peace ,Unity, Love, Freedom or Death, Justice
The Spirit Of Professor X Lives On

Afrika Bambaataa
The Amen Ra of Universal Hip Hop Culture
Each One Teach One,Feed One,Help One,Live as One,Leave all Egos in the Garbage
Save Planet Earth

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