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An Open Letter to Hip Hop from Afrika Bambaataa

January 13, 2013 By

afrika-bambaataa-pointPEACE AND BLESSING TO All of Our Family of Warriors, Thinkers and Leaders:

Hope 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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Filed Under: 2008 Daily news, archive articles, Essential Hip Hop Articles Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Remembering Jam Master Jay in the Midst of Chaos.. 10 Years Later

October 30, 2012 By

Ten years ago today we lost one of Hip Hop’s dopest deejays and true pioneers, Jason Mizell aka Jam master Jay of the legendary group Run DMC He was shot in killed in his studio in Queens. Like so many who have been murdered , not just in Hip Hop but in our own community, his murder is still unsolved.. I republishing the piece I wrote the day after his death 10 years ago. Its sadly still relevant today..Please read, reflect and improve.. RIP Jam Master Jay…..(Jan 21 1965- Oct 30-2002)

Jay’s like King Midas, as I was told,
everything that he touched turned to gold.
He’s the greatest of the great, get it straight he’s great.
Claim fame cause his name is known in every state.
His name is Jay to see him play will make you say:
“God damn, that DJ made my day!”

-Run DMC… ‘Peter Piper’-

I’m not sure what exactly can be said at this time…All sorts of emotions are whirling inside my head and to be honest its hard to believe Jam Master Jay [Jason Mizell] is dead…Dude was 37 years old, had a wife and 3 kids.. I believe his oldest son is 15.. And if you ever met Jay, you knew he was a cool cat.. He didn’t bring a gangsta persona to the table. He wasn’t the type of cat who needed a bunch of body guards when he walked down the street. As far as I knew he wasn’t living foul, causing drama or somehow instigating any sort of ‘rap feud’ which are all but too frequent..

Jam Master Jay was a cool cat and it’s for that reason I don’t wanna do what we always seem to do when we encounter violent death….I don’t wanna simply ‘keep it moving’ and act like him being killed is no big deal..It is a big deal. I don’t wanna put a good face forward and stick the emotions of yet another violent death of another brotha in the back of my mind. There’s been one too many deaths and I no longer have room in the back of my mind. I don’t wanna fall back on old tired clich s and say things like ‘death is a part of life’ or ‘when it’s your time to go its your time to go’. That don’t cut it for me anymore. I don’t wanna act like this doesn’t bother me cause it really does. . I don’t wanna give into this unwritten code among us as Black men to not be phased by violent deaths because it’s an all too common occurrence..

I don’t wanna hold a candle, pour liquor on a curb or go on the radio station and play all my Run DMC records and rebroadcast all my old Run DMC interviews. I don’t want Jay’s death to be reduced to yet another tribute. It seems like in the past two or three years we’ve been doing a hell of a lot of tributes. In the past couple of year alone we’ve lost Big Pun and DJ Screw out of Houston to heart attacks. Too Poetic of the Grave Diggaz passed from cancer, but he courageously recorded his last album while he had the disease. We lost Aaliyah to a plane crash and Left Eye of TLC to a car crash. We lost San Francisco pioneering rapper Cougnut and San Jose’s D-Mac who died together in a car crash just days before the Sept 11th attacks. Days after the attack we lost Boogie Knight of the group The Boogie Boys. Many of us are still grieving from last moth’s the sudden death of Money Ray of the Cold Crush Brothers. He was diagnosed with cancer in August and died 5 weeks later.

And, Yo, I gotta be honest, I’m still recovering from the emotional upheaval of the sniper killings which just ended last week… I’m still asking questions with regards to Kenneth Bridges-co-founder of Matah. Why did this community activist and community leader have to be killed? Why was it another brother to be the one to take him out? I’m still trying to get over the haunting images of the distraught mother of the 35 year bus driver who was the last sniper victim. I’m still trying to process those heart breaking images….I’m still asking why?

I’m still asking why there are 94 murders in Oakland? And I’m really bothered by the fact that damn near everyone I knows someone who has been killed in the past few years.. And I’m still asking why we seem to take death so lightly? Why do we see life as so expandable? I keep asking myself what happened to the promises and commitments we all made when we came together in ’95 during the Million Man March? We promised to uplift and affirm life. What has happened since then? Why is loss of life no longer a big deal anymore? Why is Black life so cheap? What are we doing to ourselves and why? What’s going on? Will we ever get it together? Will we as Black people ever get it together…Will we ever get it together? I keep thinking about a song that poet D-Knowledge did a couple of years ago where he asks ‘Does Anyone Still Die of Old Age’?

I don’t know if we’ve been able to fully grieve and process all this death. Many of us are still left with unanswered questions as to why? Why did this have to happen? It seems like as soon as we start the
process we’re hit with another sudden death which means we wind up shoving a lot of feelings and emotions in the back of our minds, doing another tribute and moving on. This time around I don’t just wanna do
another tribute.. There’s just too many tributes to the point that it’s becoming routine and that’s bothersome for me… Jay’s death and for that matter anyone’s death should not be routine…

Maybe I’m feeling this way because I’m realizing that in many respects, I still never really got over the deaths of 2Pac and Biggie and Jay’s death is making me realize that.. There’s really been no closure despite all the VHI documentaries, articles, movie etc. This morning I was talking to my boy Pharrel over at Roc-A-Fella records
and he pointed out something that really hit home.. He told me.. ‘I hope they catch the guy who did this.. I hope they catch him because there have been way too many unsolved murders in Hip Hop’.

I kept thinking about that and all these names that ran through my mind..Scott La Rock, Freaky Tah of Lost Boyz, East Palo Alto’s Charizma, JoJo from Bored Stiff, Ray Luv‘s Dee jay DJ CAE, The Mac out of Vallejo, DJ Quick’s partner Mausberg, Pac’s homie, Yaki Kadafi, Oakland’s Seagram, 2 Pac and Biggie… The list goes on…There’s a whole lot of unsolved murders in rap and I don’t care what anyone says, that lack of closure has an effect.

And while one can easily make the case that there’s a lot of unsolved murders in our community in general, one would hope that we would be able to get to the bottom of some of these high profile slayings…The fact that we never seem to solve the murders of some of these artists the same way we don’t seem to be able to solve the murders of ‘Pookie’ or ‘Ray Ray’ from up the block, underscores the notion that in many circles the loss of Black life is no big deal…It don’t matter whether you’re a high profile artist or a d-boy on the local corner in the hood. It’s like we’re expected to die a quick and early death. And even sadder is the perceived circumstances of our deaths are all the same. In other words since last night, I’ve been fielding a lot of calls from local reporters who seem bent on making this connection to JMJ’s death with the deaths of 2Pac, East-West coast feuds and on going beefs in rap like Ja Rule vs DMX and Nas vs Jay-Z. This is not the Jam Master Jay I know.

It’s like cats are trying to make the case that perhaps Jay lead a crazy lifestyle that somehow invited the violence that befell him..I don’t wanna put JMJ in that category. Almost all the newscast and stories I’ve heard end with reporters trying to make that connection..”Jay Master Jay like 2Pac and the Notorious BIG’ is in a long line of rap stars who have died violently in a violent rap world“. Heck CNN has a poll on their website as we speak..asking who has the most musical influence 2Pac, Biggie or JMJ.. As innocent as it may seem to some, there’s something about that poll and the overall approach and questions raised that don’t sit well with me.

I don’t wanna say Jam Master Jay and 2Pac in the same breath. I don’t wanna compare him to Biggie. I don’t wanna say JMJ is in a long line of rap stars who died violently…Jay deserves his own space in our minds and hearts. We all need to take time out and reflect on Jay the musician, the pioneer, the man, the father, the husband, the friend, the associate and not categorize and compartmentalize him. I don’t wanna see him reduced to another violent casualty in a ‘violent rap world’ as one TV reporter described it.

Before asking questions about Hip Hop and violence let’s began by asking ‘Did you know Jam Master Jay?’ ‘How are you coping with this sudden loss of life?’ Are you sad? Are you angry? How will you deal with it and what changes will you try to bring about? ‘What type of man did you know JMJ to be?’ What did he mean to the community? What did he mean to his family?’ .. Words cannot express the hurt, sadness and anger I feel for this loss…

Please take time to hug those you love.. It should be obvious by now..no one is promised tomorrow.. Please take time to say a prayer for Jay’s three kids and the wife he left behind Pray for the rest of his family and friends. One can only imagine what they must be going through. Pray that God gives them strength to get through the pain of his death..Pray that they be comforted..Lastly take time to reflect and allow yourself to grieve. Allow yourself to heal.. We’ve been hit with a lot of stuff over the past few years..

Your truly
Davey D

10/31/2002

Below is a nice lecture JMJ gave to folks in Sidney, Australia talking about the important role deejays played..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt5GhseONiY

 

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: , , , , ,

Music Industry Execs Want NightClub & Hip Hop DJs to Pay Royalties for Songs-Case Before Appeals Court

April 1, 2012 By

Last week the eyes and ears of the country were focused on the Supreme Court as they started oral arguments around the constitutionality of key aspects of the Affordable Healthcare Act. Outside the Supreme Court things were contentious as advocates squared off with Tea Party types who opposed having HCR to be a requirement.Many said this case would be one for the history books…a landmark case for the ages.

Not too far from the Supreme Court sits the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. There another case of historic proportions is underway. The large crowds and onslaught of media trucks weren’t present, yet what comes of this Court of Appeals could have an immediate and long lasting impact for anyone who listens or plays music in today’s digital world. In these hallowed halls justices are debating copyright and who pays for what when it comes to music. The proceedings are entering it’s 4th week.

What’s at stake is whether or not the 3 appointed administrative judges who make up the US Copyright Royalty Board are constitutional. For those who don’t know, this 3 judge body which  consists of James Scott Sledge (Chief Copyright Royalty Judge), Stanley Wisniewski, and William J. Roberts are the ones who soley determine royalty rates and set terms for copyright statutory licenses. many have suggested these 3 individuals who are appointed by the Librarian of Congress are too powerful and need to have additional oversight.

For a long time very little attention was paid to this office, but in recent years the CRB has determined royalty rates for Internet radio, Satellite radio like Sirius XM, cable TV, cell phones, ring tones and anything else where music is broadcasted or transmitted digitally.  Many feel that over the years the rulings from CRB have been a Godsend for corporate copyright owners, major record labels, publishing houses who been able to collect enormous sums of money from digital music users.

The most recent rates set by the CRB, which will stay in effect to 2015, require commercial internet stations to pay upwards to $50,000 per station annually and .25 cent per song/ per listener. Many webcasters, including the world’s largest, Pandora as well as many others who own digital media businesses, have long complained thatCRB royalty rates were too high and crippling business.  On the other side, music industry tycoons have been clamoring to charge more. They said anyone using music in digital form hasn’t paid enough and needs to ante up  and help fill their coffers.  It’s a vicious tug of war that has led to CRB’s constitutionally being challenged.

It’ll be at least a year before the final arguments are heard in before the Appeals Court, in the meantime industry executives have been rushing to put ironclad laws in place, so in the event CRB is dismantled the rulings they enacted stay in place.

Industry tycoons wanna start charging DJs to play their songs

Industry tycoons are now turning their sights to Club and Mobile DJs and want to start charging them for the commercial and non commercial use of their songs. This added fee would be on top of what night clubs and restaurants already pay to organizations like ASCAP and BMI. They’ve been emboldened by a recent 9th Circuit court ruling where deejays were found to be in breach of copyright for playing music at Roscoe Chicken and Waffles in Los Angeles.. You can read that case HERE

Industry big wigs are anxious to get a ruling on DJs just as American Idol executive Simon Cowell is set to launch a DJ Talent Show.. You can read about that HERE Many feel that the DJ talent show will move millions away from playing instruments and into the DJ realm which now thanks to digital tools  and mp3s make it easy for anyone to get involved in the profession. many are seeing the potential for huge dollar signs..Others see dollar signs but have a specific beef..

If Ernie Le Saviour has his the way music is presented will be forever changed

Ernie Le Saviour  a veteran musician, film maker and now music executive has been leading the charge.In a recent interview he said; “DJs have been illegally profiting off the hard work us musicians put in. They make thousands of dollars a night and we don’t see one red cent.”

Saviour continued, “What really chaps my hide, is these DJs have been illegally rearranging (mixing) and  ruining the composition of songs. A lot of hard work was put into making a song. As a professional flautist, one needs to understand that hours were spent perfecting the final product. We didn’t put our heart and soul into a song only to have some lazy, non-musicially inclined disc jockey to go tinkering and MIS-arranging our stuff”.

Saviour who is a flute player, can be heard playing in the back of classic songs like Flashlight by Parliament, Getaway by Earth Wind & Fire and most notably Paid in Full by Eric B & Rakim. He is scheduled to testify next week before the Court of Appeals. There he will plans to express his outrage at nightclub deejays..

Savior explains; Late last year, My son dragged me went to some fancy nightclub in Vegas where I had to pay 50 dollars to go see some bib Black guy with a 1960s style Afro and an Afro pick in his head spin records. My son was all excited and told me it Questluv. I thought it was strange, because this guy Questluv is a musician.. I see him every night on one the Jimmy Fallon show where plays drums..”

“Seeing him on the turntables troubled me. I kept asking myself; ‘Why would a professional drummer be deejaying? In my world that’s going backwards.  As a professional flautist, I would never stoop down and deejay.  It takes skillz to blow..it requires very little to spin”, said Saviour

DJs like Questluv have angered Ernie Le Saviour

He continued; “Anyway as the night goes on, we’re getting ready to leave when suddenly I hear this song ‘Paid in Full’. This is the song where I play both the transverse flute and the western style, Db piccolo better known as a soprano flute.  I’m excited and thinking this large crowd will get to hear a master musician. Then boom disappointment.. First problem This DJ Mr Questluv, sped the song up, so when you hear me playing my flute its in an F key when the original was done in a C…That was unacceptable”

Savior goes on; “Next problem is this Quest guy cuts off the flute mid stream, right before my crescendo. He repeats this over and over again.(Quest was back spinning)”

“I told my son, ‘That is not how the song was made’ . It made me look incompetent. As a professional a flautist I was embarrassed. Who gave this deejay permission to change the arrangement in my song.. in front of hundreds of people nevertheless.? I said to my son there ought to be law against this and I wanna be compensated”

Congressman John Conyers

Saviour expressed his outrage to fellow music executives. He called Congressman John Conyers who has doing lots of work to help musicians get paid through a performance royalty tax under HR 848. Conyers wants radio stations to pay for each song they air and may soon get his way.. Saviour who attended two briefings put on by Conyers, concluded: “If radio can pay, why can’t these damn deejays?”

The way current copyright laws are written now, Ernie Le Saviour is not entitled to any compensation accept what is determined by ASCAP or BMI.. If he has his way sections 114 and 115 of current copyright law will be re-written to add provisions that will apply to deejays and remixers.

Saviour says anyone who presents music in a digital form on popular platforms like Serato, Torque or any other digital music device, either as  deejay or any other presenter, should be required to obtain a compulsory license before rearranging a song in public. In other words you will not be allowed to, mix, remix or alter the song in anyway without the permission of the artist and copyright holders.  Saviour contends that the public has a right and reasonable expectation to hear the music as it was originally intended.

“Can you imagine if I ran up on stage and started playing the drums any old way and said it was a Questluv composition? It would be foul.. So I ask that people not mess with the arrangement of my flute. As a professional flautist I have standards and they can’t be respected, then we’ll have to legislate it.”

Saviour also wants deejays to pay similar rates like Internet Radio, 25 cent per song..he noted that with the new technology, digital devices can be checked remotely, so as soon as a deejay puts on a record, it will leave digital footprint allowing Saviour and other executives to collect royalties.. Thus far Saviour’s proposal is being well received and may get some favor before the Appeals Court.

Ernie Le Saviour will be address the Appeals Court of District of Columbia this Wednesday at 2pm EST.. If you would like to weigh in or get more info on how to support or oppose.. You can reach out HERE

written by Davey D

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

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

May 1, 2008 By

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:

breakdownFM-logo-podcast-30

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

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Filed Under: 2008 Daily news Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Keeping It True School-An Interview w/ Monie Love

February 4, 2007 By

This is a great interview done by my boy Tony Muhammaed down in Miami Florida. He sits down with a true Hip Hop legend Monie Love..

In the beginning of January UAN had the distinct honor and pleasure of meeting with London-born Hip Hop pioneer Monie Love at The Marlin Hotel in South Beach for a fun filled True School Party, featuring super dope DJ and producer 9th Wonder on the 1s and 2s, where we reminisced while jamming to 80s and 90s Hip Hop and R’N’B hits all night long. Without question, Monie has come a long way since back in the late 80s and early 90s when she hooked up first with the Native Tongues Crew and later with legendary producer Marley Marl, producing vibrantly spunky jams that were guaranteed to “hype up the party.”

At age 36 and being the mother of three children, the Monie of today is a much more mature Monie, not only on a personal level but with her level of consciousness of how the industry works, landing work as a DJ on an MTV game show in the 90s and as a morning show radio personality in Philadelphia in recent years. This interview was very timely as it came two weeks after Clear Channel 100.3 and Monie had a “falling out.” It is speculated throughout the industry that this was actually an act of termination in response to an on-air argument Monie had with Young Jeezy just weeks prior.

It is believed that the incident ruined some “back door” payola (pay to play) agreement between Jeezy’s label or management and the radio station. With the overall message of Nas’ new album sparking endless debates among Hip Hoppers everywhere, it found itself in a big way at the radio station that morning. What was supposed to be a discussion promoting Jeezy’s new album turned into a debate about whether or not “HIP HOP IS DEAD” and whether or not Nas truly has “street credibility.” Based on the manner in which Jeezy interacted with Monie on the air, you could tell that he did not have a good idea who she was. Throughout the interview, Jeezy continuously disrespected her; first by questioning her background (being from England) in relation to Hip Hop and second by constantly interrupting her when she was about to respond to his statements. After Monie lashed out at Jeezy by explaining why she felt that “HIP HOP IS DEAD,” Jeezy walked out of the station (Peep the discussion on Odeo.com for yourselves).

Beforehand, Monie and I agreed that the interview was not going to be focused on this incident that has had Hip Hoppers talking all over the World Wide Web through e-mails, blogs and message boards. Yet, if you pay close attention to Monie’s commentary she makes some very strong general statements about Hip Hop artists of today that truly do not have knowledge of Hip Hop’s history (probably referring to Jeezy) and how commercial (terrestrial) radio and media has played a strong role in dividing the Hip Hop generation of 15 years ago from the Hip Hop generation of today. This is a very powerful and emotion filled one and one that is sure to get Hip Hop fans all over talking. Next month, look out for another powerful interview with co-founder of True School Corp., 9th Wonder of Little Brother. For now, enjoy this exclusive piece:

UAN: What is True School Corp. and how are you involved with it?

Monie Love: True School is an organization put together by several college alumni and one of them being the youngest set of alumni which is 9th Wonder, producer and DJ and member of the group Little Brother. I have been a member of the organization for about a year exactly and what the true school movement is about is creating a venue, whether it is a place to go, station to listen to, music to listen to for the non-represented Hip Hop fans which I would say range from about 23 and up. Many of them really don’t feel represented, especially 25 and up. Many of them really don’t feel like going out.

I love Hip Hop and I listen to it in my car and in my house, but I feel like I can’t go listen to it in a club because I’m going to find myself fighting to get in the club. So, what we are trying to do is create a venue and a forum for them to let them know that there is an audience out there that is just like you and we need to represent ourselves and we need to create venues to go out and party. We need to create stations and music formats that we can listen to that play the kind of things that we want to hear. It’s crazy to me how you can find 15 and 16 year old kids wearing a Led Zeppelin t-shirt and knowing the lyrics to a Rolling Stones song. That doesn’t happen in Hip Hop. It doesn’t happen because we don’t carry our own traditions, which True School Corp. is definitely an organization interested in carrying on tradition and passing it down.

UAN: I heard Chuck D once say that many in the older generation have compromised planting little seeds of knowledge on the youth in exchange for “looking good.” Would you agree with this view?

Monie Love: Absolutely and wholeheartedly! You know, speaking for myself, I do not compromise.

UAN: We know that for a fact!

Monie Love: I do not compromise, but in general for my generation a lot of us do compromise. We are so fixed on remaining in the 18 to 34 bracket or even younger that we end up not focusing much on the 34 end of it. Many of us are paying much more attention to the 13 or 14 year old age bracket and do not realize that it is not our audience and they aren’t really interested. It’s crazy that a lot of the kids are fixed on a lot of the snap dancing and all of that, but you put on some “boom bap” sh*t on, they do not know what to do. They do not know how to dance to it. It’s the craziest thing to watch because it’s like “Oh my God!” This came out before the snapping. The “boom bap” came first. It just bugs me out how these little white kids know about Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones and Def Leopard.

UAN: Well, a lot of the young white kids now know about the history of Hip Hop.

Monie Love: That’s ludicrous to me and we are partly … I wouldn’t say that we are 100 percent to blame because we are not. Radio has given a lot to Hip Hop and taken away from Hip Hop because radio has assumed the position of dictating what’s “in,” what you should be listening to now, what is “old school” and what is “too old.” Radio does that. TV does that. TV video shows do this. Media does it in general. Media does this by eliminating talent; creating hierarchy within Hip Hop … you could go as far back as Ed Lover not doing Yo! MTV Raps anymore. (Yo! MTV Raps had its final episode in August 1995)

UAN: I remember at one point MTV moving the show (Yo! MTV Raps) at some crazy hour in the middle of the night and Ed Lover and his partner Dr. Dre looked angry and were actually saying some things real negative things about MTV, about how messed up they were being treated.

Monie Love: Yeah, that was towards the end. You can even bring it up to speed more recently with BET getting rid of AJ and Free. They were the landmark of 106 & Park. Basically, media has this real fickle attitude towards Hip Hop and as far as it being on TV and on radio; they determine that someone is too old to be delivering it anymore. There’s no too old! It’s ours and it belongs to us! So we can be old, freakin’ grand parents, which some of us are. Like the set before me, they’re now grandparents. It’s ours and it belongs to us and it will be ours until we die therefore there is no better messenger for its history to come from than from us. The stories of old Hip Hop shows, of when this one got on stage and this one was at the park jams … because it all brings it up to speed. Everyone and everything has a history. You can not act like it doesn’t exist because then you’ll just sit there and ask, “Well, where did Hip Hop come from?”

UAN: Right! …. Uuummm … RUN DMC? (Laughs)

Monie Love: You know what I’m saying? … And yes, you know, right! But a lot of these kids can’t even sing a RUN DMC song from start to finish. It’s ridiculous and it’s stupid and it partly has to do with how media handles Hip Hop and promotes it like some disposable music form.

UAN: I remember back in the day when MTV had segments called “Closet Classics” and they would show TV broadcasted performances by Rock artists from the 60s and 70s. Even though kids that were into hard Rock in the 80s didn’t really grow up with Black Sabbath, yet and still many of them were very quick to identify a personality such as Ozzy Osborne as “God.”

Monie Love: That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Now, the other end of the responsibility comes from us, myself, Chuck, Flav, Ed Lover … you name it! It is partly our responsibility to do as Nas says on the Hip Hop is Dead album. On one of the tracks, he talks about carrying on tradition. We have to do that! It is our responsibility to do that. We have not been doing that! So, partly what is happening to some of the youth who are not Hip Hop fans … and you can tell someone who is making music today and put records out and are not Hip Hop fans … and the easiest ways to detect one of these people is if they have absolutely no clue of people who came before them. And not just knowing the obvious cuts it. Everyone pretty much knows about RUN DMC, Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick. That’s not hard. When you start getting into Sweet Tee and Jazzy Joyce …

UAN: Well, let’s take it back to Kool Herc and Bambaataa.

Monie Love: You know what I’m saying? Let’s talk about Diamond D, Boot Camp Click … all of these people. You need to know this kind of stuff! If you don’t know this kind of stuff then you’re not really a fan and if you are not a fan, then what the f*ck are you making Hip Hop music for?

UAN: Generally what artists today would you consider to be “True School?” What is the definition of “True School?”

Monie Love: Everything that you do not hear on terrestrial radio!

UAN: Well, what about someone like say a Busta Rhymes who is still trying to maintain the appeal of the younger audience? And some may argue that he has gotten legally in trouble for trying to lead the particular lifestyle he is now rhyming about. For instance, on his most recent album, on certain songs he mentions how he is a crack dealer. How do you view this?

Monie Love: Actually, Busta had his stint with that and was constantly getting into trouble as a young kid. Young kids find themselves sometimes walking a path that they have no business walking along and can get in all sorts of trouble. Some get saved, others don’t. Busta got saved through family and friends, through people that loved him and his group Leaders of the New School … But, I can tell you that Busta did have his stint of walking the wrong path totally.

UAN: So what would you say about the content of the album?

Monie Love: I love Busta’s album. Busta is able to mix it up. In listening to that album you can tell that he is able to bridge the gap with the youth today without artistically selling out where the hell he comes from. In order to do that all you have to do is listen to track number 8 which is a cut with him and Q-Tip.

UAN: What are your views of what may possibly be the future face of MTV as far as Hip Hop goes – the more abstract and content filled underground genre of artists?

Monie Love: I totally agree that there is a tremendous amount of talent out there that has not been tapped into yet. They are the emcees of the future and they are the people that are going to carry on Hip Hop for years to come. I would like to think that they would learn from their predecessors as far as … It doesn’t make sense saying anything if no one is going to hear it. If you make things so tremendously difficult to understand and you spend time constantly only within your own ciphers that have the same mental orgasmic intensions with their lyrical content people outside of your circle aren’t going to listen to you. You need to broaden what you say in order to bring some people in and understand what you are doing.

UAN: Right now, for True Schoolers, what is the best way to bridge the gap between generations?

Monie Love: By carrying on tradition, by passing the stories down, by creating an environment that people can get to their 30s and not think “Oh well, I need to hang Hip Hop up now. There’s nowhere for me to go and nothing for me to listen to.” That’s crap! There is an entire legacy of music, whether it is R’N’B or Hip Hop or whatever. There is a legacy of music that needs not be forgotten and therefore tradition can be carried on into the following generation. Those Hip Hop heads that are saying things that are so intricate and so crazy and so deep that the masses outside of them don’t understand, broaden your horizons, flow in a manner that you can invite others from the outside and what we are doing right now as the older heads is we are trying to create an environment that will set the tone so that when your sh*t comes out and your sh*t has had its run and your sh*t is now old, there is an environment for your sh*t to continue being heard!

For more info on True School Corp, visit www.trueschoolcorp.com.

source:http://www.uannetwork.com

Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Prime Time Still Eludes Brawling Hip-Hop Mixtape Awards

January 20, 2004 By
Justo Faison

Justo Faison

Halfway through Justo’s Eighth Annual Mixtape Awards on Wednesday night in the basement of Club Speeed in Midtown, the microphone was passed to Loon, the sleepy-voiced rapper who records for P. Diddy’s record label, Bad Boy. After paying tribute to the gathered D.J.’s and rapperati, he demanded to know why the awards ceremony “ain’t televised nationally.”

A few minutes later, Loon had his answer when an attempt to clear the stage for a performance nearly erupted into a brawl. (Last year’s ceremony, at the Hammerstein Ballroom, was cut short by a backstage fight.) Through an impressive combination of exhortation, cajoling and threats, a truce was negotiated, and the show went on — and on and on. The last award was given out just before 1 a.m., nearly five hours after the announced start time.

This was a fittingly contentious and chaotic celebration of hip-hop mixtapes and the men (and it is nearly always men) who make them. Compilations of rare and unreleased tracks, nowadays on CD despite the name, they occupy a gray area between bootlegs and official releases.

The paradigmatic mixtape success story is that of 50 Cent, who used appearances on mixtapes to make himself a star, and now lots of up-and-coming rappers are hoping to duplicate his success.

This was one awards show that wasn’t dominated by acceptance speeches. DJ Whoo Kid won the top prize, best mixtape D.J., but he was nowhere to be found. And when DJ Lazy K won best female D.J., she limited herself to a couple of sentences, cheered on by members of her all-female crew, the Murda Mamis.

There were appearances by Fat Joe and Chingy and brief performances by the R & B singer Teedra Moses and the veteran hip-hop duo Mobb Deep. But the evening’s most enthusiastic applause was for Ghostface Killah, the Wu-Tang Clan’s best and wildest rapper, who tore through his frantic current single, “Run,” which has been a mixtape staple for the last few months.

Mixtape D.J.’s have been helped immeasurably by hip-hop’s high-profile feuds: mixtapes are often the only way to stay current on who hates whom. On Wednesday night, just about everyone seemed to be embroiled in some sort of beef. Loon announced that he and DJ KaySlay (known as the Drama King for his beef-centric mixtapes) had settled their differences “like men.”

But other disputes raged on: between hosts, between D.J.’s, between detractors and supporters of Club Speeed, even between rival jewelers. The only consensus was that anything worth doing is worth fighting over.

In the end it was hard not to admire this fighting spirit; after all, cutthroat competition has helped keep hip-hop fresh for almost 30 years.

DJ KaySlay had won the best mixtape DJ award three times in a row, which means he is no longer eligible. But he couldn’t resist grabbing the microphone to announce that he was still hot and that his mixtapes still sold. Whoever disagreed, he said, should “holler at me outside.”

by By KELEFA SANNEH

Filed Under: archive articles Tagged With: , , , , ,