Mentes Diferentes: Sacramento Hip-Hop

Comin Straight Outta the ‘Sac’ (and into your ears)

RHHR: Let’s get a roll call… Mentes Diferentes: Roll Call! The Desperados (Vicious V & Reckless Reaction), Brown Hustlas (J Loco, Chuco & Lil Joker), KEST, Americano, & Chaotic ITILII.”

RHHR: When did you guys start rapping? Reckless: I started spittin in high school just messin around as a senior 17 yrs old.

Vicious V: I started rappin when I was 17 I began as a house party DJ in high school…I gradually made my transition from a producer to an MC throughout the years.

Chaotic: I started rappin as a hobby back in high school but never took it too seriously, till I became politically conscious to advocate for the rights and promote empowerment to our community, mainly influenced by the Chicano Civil Rights Movement.

RHHR: When did you get together and start the group Mentes Diferentes? Reckless: Vicious V and I started the Desperados in 2005. Then the camp formed together shortly after with everyone that was affiliated with me or vicious.

Vicious V: Mentes Diferentes was created as a musical collective that would define the diversity of various styles we have to offer.

 Chaotic: we’re a collective of young Chicanos tryin to create a scene out there for our gente to be proud of and know we are reppin for them on multiple levels and changing the norm of what stereotypes are out there.  Personally, my favorite times is when we get together to address issues affecting our communities – Mentes Diferentes United.

RHHR: What’s the philosophy of the group? Reckless: I believe strongly in unity, and power in numbers.  We’re all in the same struggle working together tryin to reach our goals..

 Vicious V: My thought on its philosophy..I would say that we all came from different economic and social back rounds thus giving us a wide range of topics to talk about in our music..we all have our own distinctive sound and style and when we come together – it just shows the unity we have for one another..

RHHR: What does each individual member bring to the group? Reckless: beats, verses, some graphics, video editing….

 Vicious V: as far as what I bring to the table? I produce the beats..I write the hooks..I write rhymes.

Chaotic: we each hold our own weight whether it be in the booth or on the streets. Some of us have home studios providing the beats and recordings for others. Vic and Reck got a talent to smell a perfect sample and J Loco is a monster behind a key board to play. Some of us are graphic designers and promoters too who make album art, flyers, posters etc. Then when it comes to holdin it down for the movement, we all like to get down in our own ways to collectively support a cause from “Immigrant” and farmworker rights to student rights to education and anti police brutality. Some of us are Community organizers, so we do more than just perform for benefit shows by taking lead rolls working with our local org such as MEChA, LCLAA and Brown Issues to name a few. J Loco is actually a founding member of Brown Issues at SacCity College and we collabed a couple times with o MEChA for various marches or protests against SB 1070 or organizing in the Cesar Chavez or May 1st marches to name a few.

RHHR: What have been some of your major influences, both musical and otherwise? Reckless: Influenced by life, pain, love, hate, family… Musically- Cypress, Delinquent Habbits, Kid Frost, Xzibit, any West Coast and some Canibus, Jedi Mind Tricks…

Chaotic: My biggest influences to emcee are Hip-Hop legends Rakim, KRS-One, 2pac, The Legacy of NWA, and Rage Against Machine, and to organize are local civil rights veterans Al Rojas, Rev. Ashiya Odeye & CT Weber.

Vicious V: Im influenced by many things…  Too many to write down, but at the end of the day I want to be remembered for what I did and for what I contributed to Mentes.

RHHR: Are you all from Sac or the area? Reckless: We’re all from Sacramento or Yolo County. I was Born and raised in Sacramento, over the last few years everyone decided they want to be a producer/ emcee so I try to stay away from what everyone else sounds like..

Vicious V: Born in Woodland, raised in Davis, and currently live in Sacras.

RHHR: How is the Hip-Hop scene in Sac? Any strengths or weaknesses? Reckless: The Hip-Hop scene in sac has gotten better; I still see people hating on each other, everyone wants to be the first to blow out of the 916, but lately I have seen different collabs with people working together…

Chaotic: I say we got a dope Hip-Hop crowd and a few good venues. Off top, shout out to all my peoples at Sol Collective holdin it down for Art, Culture & Activism a good home for hiphop. But ya, as for some dope emcess besides us. The homies from The People’s Revolution, From Parts Unknown, Cash Dreed, just to name a few, Task 1ne is bout to blow. Watch out for him… Hella too many cats to mention. 

Vicious V: “Sac hates Hip-Hop” (lol jk). Shout out to Mahtie Bush. Ya, the hip-hop scene is dope..The city has many local talent..Very competitive yet very receptive is one way to call it, I would say. Its diverse! Shout outs to sam miranda of sol peligro for beliving in me and being one of the first people to collab with me when I first got to Sacramento!

RHHR: What are some of the albums you got out? Reckless: Mentes Diferentes- El Campo, The Desperados- Cali Calo, The Desperados- United Front, 2 Mixtapes: Buenos Dias and Buenas Tardes. Brown Hustla Records- Nueve Diez y Seis, KEST & Horizon- Modern Marvels, KEST & Horizon- The Struggle, Ivan Franco- El Musico, Victor Alejo oh yeah!! Free Mixtape Coming Soon! Bongs & Bongos look out for that and The Deperados will be releasing their 3rd album Sacramentes late 2011 early 2012! Gonna be a Classic!

RHHR: How can someone find out more info about you and contact you? Reckless: Google us, youtube, facebook, myspace: Mentes Diferentes, rr.md916@gmail.com  

Vicious V: You can download my music free at http://reverbnation.com/viciousv530..youtube mentes diferentes, check out our videos! Hit us up via email.. vicious.v.weeseed@gmail.com!

RHHR: Any shout-outs or final comments? Mentes Differentes: Shout out to Sol Collective, The TPR fam, and  thanks and much success to all the RHHR family!

RHHR’s Favorite Hip-Hop “Rolas” Summer 2011

Pharoahe Monch & Immortal Technique – W.A.R. “we are renegades, this means war, sixteens bust or break unjust laws, overthrow regimes in the name of the cause, renegades, never slaves, this means war, 100% uncut raw, fuck limited freedom, nigga we want more, the machine is corrupted down to the core, rebel army muthafucka, this means war”

Common – Letter to the Law “I sing a song for the hero unsung, with faces on the mural of the revolution, no looking back cousin, back is what’s done, tell the preacher that God got more than one son, tell the law my uzi weighs a ton, I walk like a warrior from them I won’t run, on the streets they try to beat us like a drum, in Cincinnati another brother hung, again he won’t see the sun, with his family stung, they want us to hold justice, but you’ve handed me none”

Chuck-D – Tear Down that Wall “Hip-Hop supportin non-stop sweatshops so you can retail your ass off without fail, then some of you get setback, blame this immigration exploitation with your lack of information by yelling ‘wetbacks’  somebody actin forever 21 can’t hide, can’t cry, can’t run, can’t blame it on the crack, or fight back without a passport, millennium Gestapo border control, the new contact sport,  yall call em immigrant and take em to court, but look at your hood and your lack of support, some of these DJs have no ideawhat they’re playin, some of these rhymers don’t realize what the hell they’re sayin, so I let em chase the Cash, honey, without a plan, forget Johnny was the man in black but I’m the black in man, this is modern day slavery, and part of the plan, with all due respect sir, tear down that wall man”

E-40 – Born in the Struggle “her stomach keep hurtin, but she didnt bother, cuz you and I both know black folk dont like to go to the doctor, one thing about us, man, we creative, and at the end of the day we all related, thru the slaves and Indians and Natives, they brought us here on a boat, whipped us and raped us”

Swollen Members – Fire “we do our job in intervals, lucky cuz I get to fuck some girls that look like centerfolds, unlucky when I cross the border cuz of INTERPOL, my name’s Red Flag, I’m from Canada where winter’s cold, love makin music, i fell it in my inner soul, I love God, I have broken from the Devil’s hold, ever since try to steer clear of all the 7 sins, realizing I have been to places I have never been, meaning that I never ever stop to smell the roses, this world is full of evil and people are ferocious, dragons are red, magic is black, oxys are blue, yeah the manglers are back, listen to my fuckin song, what kind of language is that? sorry but the rapper full of pain and anguish is back” 

Lupe Fiasco – Words I Never Said “I really think the war on terror is a bunch of bullshit, just a poor excuse for you to use up all your bullets, how much money does it take to really make a full-clip? 9-11, building 7, did they really pull it? and a bunch of other cover-ups, your child’s future was the first to go with budget cuts, if you think that hurts then wait here comes the upper-cut, the school was garbage in the first place that’s on the up-and-up…Limbaugh is a racist, Glen Beck is a racist, Gaza Strip was gettin bombed, Obama didn’t say shit, that’s why I ain’t vote for em, next one either, I’m part of the problem, the problem is I’m peaceful, and I believe in the people”

Saigon – It’s Cold “this is where we call home, shit is like a war zone, tryin to dress warm put them long-john drawers on, homie it’s cold and you gonna need more than some hot chocolate, cuz when it’s on somebodys spittin them glock rockets, til u see somethin that ain’t for your eye sockets, this is our hustle and no you can not knock it, it’s freezin out here, you would think that it was winter season I swear, everywhere you can turn the feds and the D’s is right there, shit is like a freakin nightmare”    

Brotha Lynch Hung – Red Dead Bodies “Imma get rid of the dead body, sleep with his head by me”

Pete Rock, Smif-n-Wessun, & Buckshot – Night Time “camouflage gremlins patrollin the rooftop, the youth got the juice like 2Pac, official crews move synchronized when maneuverin thru blocks, about to take the lucci that you got”

Kanye West, Jay-Z, Rick Ross, & Nicki Minaj – Monster Jay-Z: “sasquatch, godzilla, king-kong, loch ness, goblin, ghoul, a zombie with no conscience, question, what do these things all have in common? everybody knows I’m a muthafuckin monster, conquer, stomp ya, stop ya silly nonsense, none of you niggas know where the swamp is, none of you niggas have seen the crimes that I’ve, I still hear fiends scream in my dreams, murder, murder in black convertibles, I kill the block, I murder the avenues, I rape and pillage ya village, women and children, everybody wanna know what my Achilles heel is, love, I don’t get enough of it, all I get is these vampires and blood-suckers”     

The Roots & John Legend – Hard Times “17 years and countin, I’ve tried to climb up the rough side of the mountain, friends warned me Imma have to do it without them, no problem, really it was never about them, so my house I never come out from, cuz everydays a drought, then a shadow of doubt come, I’m down to do whatever if it betters my outcome, the city is like the Audubon Ballroom waitin for Malcolm” 

Del The Funky Homosapien – Upside Down “this is dedicated to the haters and the novices, who always wanna argue about what Hip-Hop is, and I don’t give a fuck right now, it’s time to turn the whole shit upside-down, you take shit for granted that you never had to work for, I generate more heat than the earth’s core”

Zion I & the Grouch – It’s Goin Down “your life ain’t easy, I heard it all before, I’ve been up on the top and I’ve been down on the floor, you see it’s complicated, and I’m finding out, spinnin around and around and it’s goin down”

Shining Soul – Papers “up in the city yall know the deal, but back on my reservation it’s been the ordeal, red light, blue light, keep steel, checkin for ID, you get the ideal, ‘who your family be? where your papers at?’ don’t it sound like a chopped and screwed track?”

Strong Arm Steady – Gangstas “niggas always writin their gangsta raps, but they ain’t really grow up where the gangstas at, where the gangstas at, where the hustlas serve, where they got my back, and they got my word, got the B’s and the C’s and the eses wit me, representin one love, nigga this our city, where the gangstas at, nigga it’s all good, nigga rep yo block, nigga rep yo hood”

Ghostface Killah & Black Thought – In the Park  Ghostface: “see this rap shit came at a time that was accurate, 20 years later I mastered it” Black Thought:v”linoleum, breakdancin, rustoleum cans, I put the writin on the wall, signed truly yours”

David Banner & 9th Wonder – Diamonds on My Pinky “I tried suicide but the gun wasn’t workin, BANG, it’s the same damn thang, boys club is closin while they buildin PF Changs, look at your pinky rang if your souls on main, never really bought them dead souls on the lane, but I’m from Mississippi where we let our nutz hang, and the white folks used to let my ancestors do the same”

Random Axe – Black Ops “get the hardware, take it to the enemy, the hard-head, it’s all here, man the artillery, niggas go to war for the liberty, black ops, arms, and ability”

Ill Bill & Vinnie Paz – Eye is the King    Ill Bill: “my fist is a gun, my fingers is individual pistols, system overload, princes toe to toe, eye to eye, soul to soul, walk amongst the lords of war, swords are raw…prison corridor, cult leader orator, since I was a shorty yall, busy with the .44, the black flag represent the skull and the guns, it’s like sellin a mack-11 to Attila the Hun”

Eligh – Wish I Would

Royce Da 5’9 & Eminem – Above the Law

Tech N9ne & Bun B – Raw Shit

Ras Kass & DJ Rhetmatic – Hip-Hop Now

Flipside – Act Like a Cop

Talib Kweli & Jean Grae – Uh Oh

Rest in Power: Gil Scott-Heron & Geronimo Pratt

Gil Scott-Heron was a poet, musician, and author beginning in the late 60s and early 70s. His work as a spoken word soul performer and his fusion of jazz, blues and soul music is often associated with black militant activism and has received much critical acclaim for one of his most well-known compositions “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”. On his influence, Allmusic wrote “Scott-Heron’s unique proto-rap style influenced a generation of hip-hop artists”. Scott-Heron continued to record through the 70s and early 80s and briefly returned to the studio in 1994. That album featured the track “Message to the Messengers,” in which Scott-Heron cautions the hip-hop generation that arose in his absence to use its newfound power responsibly. He has been cited as a key influence by many in the hip-hop community. Scott-Heron struggled publicly with substance abuse in the 2000s, and spent the early part of the decade in and out of jail on drug possession charges. He began performing again after his release in 2007, and in 2010 released a new album, I’m New Here, to widespread critical acclaim. He was as a pioneer in the revolutionary Hop-Hop community as any rapper and he will be greatly missed.

Geronimo Pratt was the Minister of Defense for the Black Panther Party who was targeted by the FBI’s COINTELPRO program which sent infiltrators into their gatherings and recruited informants. One of them, Julius Butler, was the key witness against Pratt when he was charged in 1968 with a Santa Monica shooting. Pratt, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, said he was innocent and maintained there were audiotapes that would prove he had been at a Black Panther meeting in Oakland the day of the killing. His lawyers later said that FBI agents and police hid and possibly destroyed wiretap evidence from the meeting which they had under surveillance. In 1972 he was unjustly prosecuted and eventually served 27 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. He also served eight years in solitary confinement under terrible conditions. For years, Pratt supporters including well-known civil rights activists pressed for his release to no avail. But two lawyers, Stuart Hanlon and Johnnie Cochran, were relentless in pursuing the case. Each time they were turned down, they filed new motions. In 1997, they won and Pratt was released. Prosecutors announced two years later that they would abandon efforts to retry him, but they never acknowledged he was wrongly convicted. It should also be noted that Pratt is the godfather of Tupac Shakur, one of the most revered artists in the world, especially within Hip-Hop culture. For a great interview with Pratt where he discusses 2pac at length go to http://allhiphop.com. During the remaining 14 years of his life, Pratt divided his time between his home in Louisiana and his adopted home in Tanzania, Africa. Pratt worked with the United African Alliance Community Center in Arusha for the last nine years that he lived in the community, which sits near the base of Mount Kilimanjaro. Geronimo Ji Jaga died in Tanzania on June 3, 2011.

Local Cops Continue Killing and Corruption Spree

Mar. 30, 2011- MPD arrests one of their own officers, Anthony Trock, for

Trock

seizing illegal drugs (including cocaine, meth, and marijuana) and failing to submit the narcotics into evidence. Trock has been with the department for four years, working as a patrol officer. Although the officer Trock has been stripped of his law enforcement powers, he is still on PAID administrative leave. The Stanislaus County district attorney’s office will conduct the criminal prosecution.

April 26, 2011 – Modesto Police Chief Mike Harden announces that the process for police accreditation cost the tax-payers of Modesto $94,000 including $5,000 to enroll in CALEA (Commission for Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, which is nothing more than an organization of police and former police) and a full time employee at an approximate cost of $89,000. At a time when budget cuts threaten to shut down everything from hospitals to day care centers – do we really think this is the best use of our money?

Abbey

May 3, 2011 – Stanislaus County Sheriff Kari Abbey was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. Abbey is charged with the murder of Rita Elias, a mother and resident of West-Side Modesto. Elias was murdered by Abbey in September of 2010 during an argument in which Abbey attempted to evict Elias from her property. Abbey’s parents are landlords and according to documents released from the investigation, Kari along with other law enforcement officers have helped illegally evict people. Abbey is also charged with conducting this “family business” all while on the clock as a Sheriff.  In court documents, the Stanislaus County district attorney’s office said Abbey abused tenants at her rental properties, used fellow deputies to serve eviction papers while they were on duty and conducted her business on county time. In addition, a March 30 search of the home and outbuildings she shared with her husband and father yielded a sophisticated marijuana growing system, several weapons, counterfeit bills, steroids and items from the Hayward Police Department. Abbey’s husband, Bennie Taylor, worked for the Hayward police until last year. Investigators said Abbey and Taylor trespassed on properties they owned and managed, harassing and intimidating tenants, assaulting at least one of them. One tenant called police after Taylor hit him, the affidavit said. Witnesses said the Modesto police officer who responded to the call seemed familiar with Abbey, hugging her and shaking Taylor’s hand.

May 24, 2011 – Modesto Police shoot and kill Jeremy Atkinson after responding to an armed robbery at a store on Coffee Rd. During a chase of Atkinson, police claimed that he reached into his waistband and they fired in self-defense, as it turned out he was unarmed. Again, like a mantra, we hear the police repeating the same line over and over again. A suspect “reaches for their waist-band” and the officers “fearing for their lives” shoot them in self-defense. Only later it turns out that the suspect is armed with only a spatula – or no weapon at all.

June 1, 2011 – About 15 people demonstrated inside and outside of the Stanislaus County court-house while Kari Abbey faced a judge, charged with the murder of Rita Elias as well as numerous other charges.

Harden

June 3, 2011 – The 5-month long “independent investigation” of the Modesto Police Department ended with a $75,000 bill while completely exonerating the cops. The investigation was launched to look into charges of police brutality that steamed from a series of leaked emails by both former and anonymous police officers claiming that the beating of suspects was common and that higher-up police, including Chief Harden, knew about the violations. The investigative report, issued by a Palo Alto based lawyer, which cost tax-payers $75,000 (on top of the nearly $100,000 for police accreditation), concludes that there is not a problem with rampant police brutality or corruption. The report issued by Robert Aaronson (who gets paid by the cops to do these investigations and as long as the results are good the cops, he’ll keep getting paid) claims that the series of emails issues about ongoing brutality are unfounded, based largely on interviews with police officers. He also cites the shooting death of Francisco Moran, claiming that officers shot Moran in order to protect “his family members and themselves,” only later discovering that the weapon he had was in fact a spatula.

June 8, 2011- Ernest Duenez Jr. was unarmed and fatally shot multiple times in the body and face by a Manteca Police Officer. According to several

Ernest Duenez Jr.

witnesses, Ernest posed no threat to the officer as he exited the back of the truck with his hands up. His leg became entangled in the seatbelt and as he fell to the ground he was shot by the officer without hesitation. Manteca PD has released different accounts of the incident, including that Ernest had a gun, then a knife, then an unidentified weapon) all which have proven to be untrue. The officer was allowed to return to work 2 weeks after the shooting even though the investigation is still ongoing. They have also refused to release the video recorded on the police car dash-camera.

June 12, 2001 – Hundreds marched through the streets of Oakland to protest the release of former BART officer Johannes Mehserle from jail after only serving 72 days behind bars for the murder of unarmed Oscar Grant as he lay face down on a BART platform in Oakland in January of 2009. Michael Vick spent more time in a cell for killing a dog.

Eric Vigen

June 21, 2011 – Stanislaus County CHP officers gunned down and killed another unarmed mentally disturbed man, Eric Vigen, with semiautomatic rifles, shooting him 55 times (that’s right, 55), several miles south of Modesto on Crows Landing and West Main. The officers involved were Sgt. Ian Troxell, a 12-year CHP veteran, Jonathan Box, and Adam Percey. The shooting happened within minutes of officers arriving. According to Vigen’s family, Eric had bipolar disorder and was in a manic state before the shooting. Thinking that law enforcement could help her son as they had done in the past, Eric’s mother called police and told them that he needed help. Eric’s family was given the murderous details of his untimely death when Sheriffs gave the family their report. A CHP officer also killed 19 year old Ricky Miranda in January.

Get involved in the fight for Justice for the victims of police abuse and murder.  Contact Modesto Copwatch at (209) 730-6744 or modestocopwatch@live.com

Two Officers Get Stiff Sentences for Killing and Burning Unarmed Black Man in New Orleans

Former New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) Officer David Warren was sentenced today in connection with the post-Katrina shooting death of Henry Glover, and current NOPD Officer Greg McRae was sentenced for the subsequent burning of Glover’s remains and obstruction of justice.

Former NOPD Officer Warren was sentenced to 25 years and nine months in prison for his involvement in the Sept. 2, 2005, shooting death of civilian Henry Glover. As part of the restitution order, Warren will also pay $7,642.32 to Glover’s family for funeral expenses. Warren was found guilty by a federal jury of a civil rights violation resulting in death for shooting Glover, and for using a firearm to commit manslaughter.

Current NOPD Officer McRae was sentenced to 17 years and three months in prison, three years of supervised release, and restitution in the amount of $6,000 for his involvement in the burning of Mr. Glover’s body. McRae was convicted of two civil rights violations, one count of obstructing justice, and one count of using fire during the commission of a felony. One of the civil rights counts charged that McRae willfully used fire to destroy a civilian’s property by burning and destroying a car, and the other civil rights count charged that he willfully deprived Glover’s family members of their right to seek redress in the courts for his death.

Evidence presented at trial established that Warren, while stationed on a second floor lookout, shot Glover, who was a floor below him and running away. Glover’s brother and a friend flagged down a passing motorist, “Good Samaritan” William Tanner, who put the wounded Glover in his car to try to get medical attention for him. However, when the group of men drove up to a makeshift police station seeking help for Glover, police officers surrounded the men at gunpoint, handcuffed them and let Glover die in the back seat of the car. McRae then drove off with Tanner’s car, with Glover’s body inside, and burned both the body and the car with a traffic flare.

“Instead of upholding their oath to protect and serve the people of New Orleans in the days after Hurricane Katrina, these officers abused their power, and violated the law and the public trust,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “Today’s sentence brings a measure of justice to the Glover family and to the entire city.”

“Today’s sentences send a powerful message that no one is above the law, and that those who are sworn to protect our citizens are never, under any circumstances, relieved of their sacred responsibilities under our Constitution. We will continue to do everything in our power—and use every law and weapon in our arsenal of justice to make certain that our police never abuse power they wield. Today is an important step forward for the courageous Glover family and the people of New Orleans, and an important move toward the city’s healing and rebuilding,” said Jim Letten, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

David Welker, FBI Special Agent in Charge for Louisiana, said, “Today’s sentences are a result of the continued diligence and commitment of the FBI to aggressively and fairly pursue civil rights violations, with the goal of bringing to justice those who abuse the very citizens they are entrusted to protect and serve.”

This case was investigated by the New Orleans Field Office of the FBI and was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Jared Fishman, of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tracey Knight and Michael Magner for the Eastern District of Louisiana. (from fbi.gov)

This shows us once again the police are capable of just about anything. Fight police brutality, know your rights and keep police accountable in your community. For more info contact modestocopwatch@live.com

Hip-Hop Book Review: Can’t Stop Won’t Stop

Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation

A book reviewer for salon.com wrote that “perhaps Jeff Chang is Hip-Hop America’s Howard Zinn.” If this is true then Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop is definitely Hip-Hop’s A People’s History of the United States. Much like Zinn, Chang obviously does a lot of research and like A People’s History this book tells the story from the perspective of the underdog, only this time it’s the underdogs who created Hip-Hop music and culture, made it a force to be reckoned with, and brought it to the forefront of mainstream America. From the ghettos of Jamaica, New York, and Los Angeles, Chang not only tells us about the history of MCs, DJs, graff writers, and b-boys, but also about social, political, and economic struggles that have always been the motivation behind the music and the movement. The book gives the Hip-Hop generation their due place in American and world history as the victims of colonization, exploitation, and degradation that rose above it all and still had time to have fun and in the process create a powerful artistic social movement.

The book is written in four parts that Chang calls “Loops” which are arraigned in chronological order, but always have a 2 year overlap. Loop 1 is entitled “Babylon is Burning: 1968-1977” and covers of the political and social instabilities in The Bronx and Jamaica that gave birth to the sounds and styles of Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaata. Chang discusses at great length and detail the oppression and rebellion in Jamaica from Bob Marley to the CIA.  He also writes about the deliberate effort to turn the Bronx into a forgotten land full of neglected project buildings, poor education, limited opportunities, and criminal activity. Changs makes the connection between the Bronx gang culture of the late 70s and early 80s and the beginnings of Hip-Hop house parties, tagging styles, and overall swagger.

Loop 2 “Planet Rock: 1975-1986” focuses on the on the initial “blowing-up” of Hip-Hop music and graffiti from being something done by mostly young black and brown people to the era of million dollar art shows and gold records. Chang spends a large part of this section on the pioneer breakdancers, graffiti artists, and DJs who built a lot of bridges, put in a lot of work, paved a lot of roads in Hop-Hop and often don’t get the credit they deserve and whose achievements and contributions to the culture go unappreciated. From Fab-5-Freddy, the Cold Crush Brothers, Rock Steady Crew, Rammellzee, Wild Style, and on and on. The last section in Loop 2 is called “End of Innocence:  The Fall of the Old School” which is not a bad thing. In fact when something loses its innocence it then can begin to get its hands dirty, and that’s what Hip-Hop started to do.

Jeff Chang

Loop 3 “The Message: 1984-1992” focuses on the turn that Hip-Hop began to take towards becoming more socially conscious, aggressive, and even revolutionary art form, from “The Message’ and “Hard Times” to “Fuck the Police” and “Fight the Power.” Chang covers a wide variety of examples of the early Hip-Hop political movements from police brutality demonstrations, the apartheid South Africa boycotts, new Black militant organizations, and of course the LA rebellion of 1992. The writing is all over the wall (sometimes literally), Hip-Hop has had a direct link to most poor, people of color, and struggling communities and has nurtured the social movements that have come out of those communities. Again, following the Loop theme, we are brought to the end of an era, the Public Enemy/Ice Cube era of rebellion and resistance to new era of big money and Hip-Hop being co-opted by corporate interests.

Loop 4 is therefore called “Stakes is High: 1992-2001” and holds a double meaning for the content discussed in this section. The first meaning is to say that the stakes are high in the political and social movement that Hip-Hop has created. Major unrest in the inner-cities, riots, massive incarceration, racism, education, poverty, etc…are all big problems and if we don’t step up and solve them we may be headed for catastrophe. Organizing gangs and the youth, discovering the CIA’s involvement in the coke/crack trade, using Hip-Hop culture as an artistic and economic outlet are some of the positive achievements. On the other hand, police forces becoming more militarized, the rise of the prison industrial complex, and Hip-Hop being completely sold out to corporate interests are obviously the negative. The second meaning of the “stakes are high” comes from those corporate interests. There is so much money to be made through Hip-Hop these days that there is little motivation to focus on anything else. In other words, why do a song for the movement and be broke when I can be safe and get signed to a major label record deal? One example that Chang focuses on is the rise and fall of The Source magazine from a small time ‘for the love of Hip-Hop’ one-sheet to the multi-million dollar company that eventually became corrupt and greedy for its own interests.

In conclusion this is a must read for anyone who calls them self a member of the Hip-Hop generation or simply wants to learn more about Hip-Hop history, culture, and politics. This book should also be recommended to anyone interested in getting a fresh new look at an alternative United States history that often goes untold, misrepresented, or covered-up. Following with the quote at the beginning of the review, the book is kind of like Howard Zinn set to break-beats.

Also recommended: Jeff Chang’s Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop, Mike Davis’ City of Quartz, Hip-Hop America by Nelson George, and Hip-Hop Matters: Politics, Pop Culture, and the Struggle for the Soul of a Movement by S. Craig Watkins

http://cantstopwontstop.com

 

The People v. Common Sense

In May the Chicago Hip-Hop artist Common (also known as Common Sense) was invited by Michele Obama to recite a poem at the White House. What followed was a full blown assault on the life and career of Common, Hip-Hop music and culture in general, and the supposed “socialist, cop-hating” Obama administration. Citing an obscure poem called “Letter to the Law” where Common addresses police brutality and how it leads to animosity and tension between young black men in the inner-city and the cops, Fox News commentators claimed the rapper was advocating the killing of police officers. They brought up “A Song for Assata” about the Black Panther Assata Shakur (2Pac’s aunt) who was accused of killing cops and also Common’s participation in a rally that called for the freeing of death row inmate Mumia Abul Jamal, a Black Panther accused of killing a cop. Three points should be made about why this controversy was created and why so much time was spent on it by conservative talking-heads.

Point 1: Common is not really a controversial rapper. His first album, Can I Borrow a Dollar?, has practically no political insight or debate. His music gradually becomes more socially conscious but the police are not a common theme in his lyrics. “A Song for Assata” was on his fourth album, Water for Chocolate, and “Letter to the Law” was not released on any of his official records. In general it’s almost impossible to find any glorification of violence, selling drugs, or disrespecting women in his lyrics. He has no criminal record and is a college graduate. After Common’s career started to take off appeared in commercials, including one for Gap. He’s been in several mainstream Hollywood movies, is involved in various charities, and donates a lot of his time to social causes especially for the youth in Chicago. 

Point 2: Right-wingers are being hypocritical and selective with their criticism. It is almost too easy to demonstrate the utter hypocrisy of the Fox News crowd on this issue and Jon Stewart did just that on The Daily Show. Stewart showed a video of rocker Ted Nugent firing off a machine gun in the air while saying “Obama, come suck on this” and “Ride on this Hillary, you fuckin bitch” not to mention his song Cat Scratch fever which contains the line “I’ll make that pussy purr with the stroke of my hand” Stewart then played a clip of Sean Hannity calling Nugent “a patriot and a real good friend” when having him as a guest on his show. As a result Bill O’Reilly challenged Stewart to a debate on the issue on his show The O’Reilly Factor. O’Reilly stated that his beef was that Common had a pattern of sympathizing with cop killers like Abu-Jamal and Shakur. Stewart responded that Common most likely felt that Mumia and Assata were wrongfully accused of their crimes and pointed out that Bono did a song for Leonard Peltier, an American Indian Movement member currently locked-up for killing 2 FBI agents and Bob Dylan did a song about Hurricaine Carter, the Black boxer wrongfully imprisoned for murder. Dylan and Bono have both been to the White House, and Bono has even been on The O’Reilly Factor. In an article on the subject, Davey-D makes the point that Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger has killed more cops on the screen that Common could ever rap about. I believe it is situations like this that the word hypocrisy was invented for.

Jordan Miles

Point 3: Police killing and brutalizing people, poverty, unemployment, and poor education, are the real issues and this is just another distraction.David Jones, president of the State Troopers Fraternal Association union said about Common and Hip-Hop, “the young people who read this stuff, hear this stuff, are getting a very dangerous and deadly message.” Davey-D put it best: “As radio host Skyy Brewer reminded us, ‘we stopped talking about Congressman Paul Ryan‘s proposed Draconian budget to go all out on this issue around Common’. Too many of us tried to explain Common’s body of work and defend it. Our collective response should’ve been a big ‘F$%k You’ to Dave Jones and other critics of Common’s visit to the White House. We should’ve responded by telling these folks to come holler at us when their police brethren are willing to hold accountable the police ‘thugs’ who are rarely punished for their egregious transgressions. We should be up in arms about those officers who went bursting in the home of 7 year old Aiyana Stanely Jones and killed her as they showed off for a reality TV show. It was sad to see that so many while defending Common, ignored the cries of police accountability from fellow Hip Hop artists like Paradise Gray of the legendary group X-Clan and Jasiri X of One Hood, an artist/organizer who puts out weekly songs addressing pressing issues impacting the community. Both artists have been on the ground dealing with outlandish case around Jordan Miles, a 17 year old honor student who was invited to play violin for Michelle Obama and other First Ladies of the World. Last year, Miles was beaten to the point of being unrecognized by his own mother by a group of martial arts expert police officers known as the “Jump Out Boys.” Miles a shy young man, was in route to his grandmother’s house when undercover officers jumped out, didn’t identify themselves, but demanded he hand over his money, drugs and guns. Jordan, who lives in a gang plagued neighborhood, fearing he was being robbed, ran only to be quickly subdued and viciously beaten. Many feel the decision to not go after the officers on the federal level was to keep police unions at bay come the 2012 election. That’s a big time failure on our part to not connect those dots. This discussion goes way beyond some lyrics to a song. Trust me, whatever words Common has rapped, police have heard far worse.  As for the rest of us, it’s important that we continue staying the course, addressing issues of injustice and not getting sidetracked. In short if we were gonna address the Common controversy at least be sure to remind our respective audience of the day to day unresolved incidents of police brutality and terrorism visiting our communities far too often.”

Brown Berets de Aztlan: New Modesto Chapter

As the original Brown Beret organization, the Brown Berets de Aztlan are the only Berets who have been organizing for 40+ years. We are, and have been, a Revolutionary group of Chican@s and Mexican@s that stand up for the rights of our people in any way we can. We are currently setting up a new chapter here in Modesto, Califas. Groups like the Brown Berets de Aztlan are needed now more than ever with the ongoing oppression that our people are facing on a daily basis such as police brutality and harassment, I.C.E raids and deportations, the struggle for farmworker’s rights, educating the youth on their true history and true enemies, as well as many other issues on a national scale. If this sounds like something that you would like to be involved in, give us a call, or email, JOIN UP! THE TIME IS NOW! STAND UP FOR YOUR GENTE!   ~ “Xicano Vince” Brown Berets de Aztlan~

 

 

call (209)782-8161 or email brownberetsmodesto@gmail.com

“Yo no soy mexicano. Yo no soy gringo. Yo no soy chicano. No soy gringo en USA y mexicano en Mexico. Soy chicano en todas partes. No tengo que asimilarme a nada. Tengo mi propia historia.”
                    — Carlos Fuentes

 

Study Shows Saggy Pants Linked to Erectile Dysfunction & Other Health Issues

In recent weeks the controversial urban/ Hip Hop inspired practice of sagging pants has come under fire.  Two weeks ago Dallas Cowboy wide receiver Dez Bryant was kicked out of a shopping mall along with several of his friends for wearing sagging pants. In the state of Florida an anti-sagging bill was passed deeming the practice as vulgar. The bill which was the brainchild of  Rep. Hazelle Rogers was passed unanimously by the committee. In the state of Arkansas Governor Mike Bebe recently signed a bill banning sagging pants in public schools. “We feel the bill can improve the learning environment in schools,” said Donna Morey, president of the Arkansas Education Association. One concern of the Arkansas General Assembly was that “student competition over the manner in which clothing is worn could lead to violence and injuries during school hours,” according to the legislation. Lawmakers also said that students should learn to dress in a way that is acceptable in the workplace as they prepare to enter it. Along with this wave of anti-sagging legislative being proposed or enacted around the country comes a brand new study from the National American Medical Association that shows the health risks of prolonged ‘sagging’.

According to posture and vitality expert Aaron Parnell, one of the biggest health problems is severe bad posture. Parnell who treats over a dozen young people a year with problems directly related to wearing baggy pants or sagging pants without a belt says many fail to realize is that to keep their pants from falling down, young people are forced to walk in an awkward manner. They rotate their legs inwardly at the knees and turn their feet outward to keep balance. This creates bad posture. He noted, walking this way can also lead to hip degeneration and low back problems. Further, rotating your legs like this everyday can lead to life-long knee misalignments and bunions. A two year study by the NAMA set to be released on Monday April 5th builds off the ‘bad posture’ findings of Parnell. Dr Mark Oliver Mansbach explains that the continuous wearing of sagging pants severely impacts sexual performance. “In our study we discovered that sagging pants wearers are 70% more likely to prematurely ejaculate during intercourse. There is a 78% likelihood that sagging pants wearers have erectile dysfunction”, Mansbach noted. “We are finding increasing number of cases where men as young as 23 are having severe cases of ED. The cause is traced back to the constant mis-aligning of their hips and lower torso from the gait (people’s walking patterns) which are symptomatic to sagging pants.” Mansbach estimates that 75-82% of the men who wear saggy pants have some sort of sexual dysfunction. Because of the machismo associated with Hip Hop, gang and urban culture most men will keep the problem hidden. They mask their sexual inadequacy by displaying fits of anger and nihilistic behavior toward each other and toward women who they can not please. “It’s the dirty little secret in urban communities that no one wants to talk about”, Mansbach said. He points to the huge jump in sales for online Viagra and sexual enhancement drugs. Many urban males who lack health insurance for expensive erectile dysfunction remedies have turned to over the counter solutions which contain sildenafil or vardenafil the ingredients found in Viagra and Levitra, two of the most commonly used ED medicines. The problem with over the counter ED remedies is that they cause an overflow of blood to rush leading to early onsets of high blood pressure and other dibiletating side effects. Others have turned to excessive drinking or taking ecstasy bills.

We spoke with rapper Kim Sharpton (aka NY Oil) of Staten Island, NY who has

Kim Sharpton aka NY Oil

been on a crusade of sorts warning young men to stop sagging. “When I was younger I was constantly getting it in and running the town. I was sagging hard B. The problem was I couldn’t get hard when the time counted”, Sharpton explained. “At first I thought it was my diet or lack of exercise. Later I thought it was psychological because I was getting stressed out. It’s not like I could share my problem with the homeboys. Women wanted to know what the deal was and so I had to come up with all sorts of excuses as to why I wasn’t capable of delivering a nice package ya dig?” Sharpton noted that he became so angry that he started writing songs targeting other rappers who wore sagging pants. At one point he even threatened to lynch them. “It was bad B, real bad, but I’m doing better now. Exercise, good diet, a strong belt and counseling to get my confidence back, help get me on track” Sharpton said. “You wont catch me sagging ever again, luckily we diagnosed my problem early on so the conditions could be reversed, but most young brothers aren’t so lucky”. Sharpton concluded, “This NAMA study is serious and should come as a dire warning to young men everywhere. ‘If your sagging your lagging’… in the bedroom..Now that’s one to grow on.. By Davey-D for http://daveyd.com

A Convo with LYNX of Beltaine’s Fire

Hi, we’re RHHR, what’s your name? My name is Lynx.  For a long time it was Emcee Lynx because in 1998 when I first started performing the local scene in the south bay where I was all about “emceeing” – not rapping – because we had all decided that Rap was what happened when corporate america stole hip hop. Of course 13 years later the reference is totally lost on most of my audience so I’m just Lynx or Lynx T’chass now. 

We know you’re in the group Beltaine’s Fire with a full live band, what solo stuff have you done to produced beats? My first 2 albums, Soundtrack for Insurrection I and II, were all beats i produced myself.  The Black Dog EP, my third release, marked a big shift because I’d attracted notice from several underground producers and that 5-song ep included instrumentals from several of them.  My next two solo albums, The UnAmerican LP (in 2004) and Living in the Shadow (2005) were half and half my beats and beats from other producers.

When did you get together with the group? In 2005 I decided I wanted to start a band and I wanted to do something really different. Now I grew up listening to hip hop, obviously. I wrote and performed my first rap song at the age of 12 – though it was years later before i started to take it seriously and as I said I didn’t get out and really start doing shows until ’98. So by 2005 I’d been in the scene making and releasing albums for 7 years and had an established fan base but wanted to do something new. I put out the word I was looking for musicians to collaborate on a new project and eventually put together the first version of Beltaine’s Fire with my girlfriend (now my wife) Laura Noel on Bass, and several other musicians on drums, guitar, and violin. The idea was that I wanted to do hip hop that really reflected me and my background as a Celt – a person of Irish and Scottish descent – living and making music here. A lot of artists come to hip hop and grab onto whatever’s cool at the moment and end up very gimmicky and fake. I wanted to create something real so it’d be clear I wasn’t trying to appropriate hip hop but bring something new to it. The music we ended up with in that first version of the band was somewhere between Rage Against the Machine and Flogging Molly. It was amazing. No one had ever done anything like it before. The great thing about that fusion is that the political content and the activism that’s always been a core part of my music fit perfectly with both halves of the fusion – Irish rebel music has a very very long history as a core part of the 800 year anti-imperialist struggle against British rule and of course Hip hop has always been political. And, of course, Laura is still rocking the hell out of the bass and singing backup vocals. I can say honestly that I didn’t recruit her into the band because she was my girlfriend but because she’s the best bassist I know. And it’s still true.

You guys just came out with a new CD Anarchitecture, how was the process of creating, writing, and recording it? We wrote all the songs for Anarchitecture collaboratively. One of the great things about the band is everyone writes their own parts. We don’t have a band leader who comes in and says “we’re going to do this now”. We function as a collective and everyone has a say in what we play and gives each other feedback. All of us live in the SF Bay Area so getting together and playing and jamming live is really at the heart of that collaboration. I might come up with a verse or some lyrics and spit it and then we’ll all riff on it for a while and take the best stuff out of that. Laura and I built a recording studio into our house and we jam and practice and record there, it’s very mellow. As far as my writing process, I used to write songs as polemics – essays in verse almost – but somewhere along the way I realized that made for terrible songs and stopped. Now I might start with an emotion or an abstract concept and just sort of roll with that – I’m always freestyling to myself and try to remember and write down the best images and lines I come up with that way. Those become the cores of new songs.

Speaking of your lyrics, your very conscious and revolutionary, have your lyrics always had that in them or did you develop and evolve your concepts over time? So all the songs are political in the sense that everyday life is political if you examine it – the sweatshops where your clothes are made or the politics of what music gets on the radio and TV and the influence of corporate power and oligarchy on the media and the perception of the world advocated by those corporate media companies. But then a song like ‘Quit My Job’ isn’t really political in any immediate sense, it’s just about having a shitty job and hating it. You could build that into a whole set of arguments about the oppression and economic coercion inherent in wage slavery but I think most people understand that stuff on a gut level already and I’m tired of preaching. I just want to make music that reflects real life and let people relate to it. The politics are obviously there, but they’re less in-your-face then they used to be and i think that makes the music accessible to more people and can help get those ideas out.

So what’s next for Lynx and Beltaine’s Fire, the album is out, are you going on the road, got any shows lined up? We’re playing a few shows – tonight we’re playing at a student activist thing in Berkeley and next week we’re playing a big function for the IWW. Mostly though we’re just focused on promoting the album. 14 years in I’ve finally come to terms with the fact I’ll never make a living off my music so I’m working full time and it’s hard to get the time off to go and tour. On the plus side, not relying on music to pay the bills gives us tremendous freedom to experiment and try new things, something a lot of bands have trouble doing.

Have you hooked up with any like minded artist or groups for collabos or events? I’ve been on a dozen mixtapes and compilations over the last several years, including several benefits for the Anarchist Black Cross and various other regional anarchist groups. And on my solo albums you’ll see verses from other artists whose music I like. the thing with big-name artists is that (understandably) they want to get paid up front to appear on an album and I don’t have the budget for that. Hip hop for me has always been about cyphers with friends and my approach to collabs reflects that.

What are the best ways for people to look you up, check out your music, and contact you? You can find info on me at http://emceelynx.com, on the band at http://beltainesfire.com, and of course the new album is available to listen to online and purchase at http://beltainesfire.bandcamp.com/album/anarchitecture

Well it was fun talking to you Lynx, any final statement or parting thoughts for the RHHReaders? Parting thought – Fela Kuti said “Music is the weapon of the future” and Beltaine’s Fire named our first album Weapon of the Future in tribute to that idea. I think it’s really true. Any genuine revolutionary music is going to have songs that express the love and rage of what people are going through and help to spread the ideals of the movement (any genuine revolutionary MOVEMENT). I’ve spent most of my life writing those songs and Anarchitecture is some of the best songs I’ve ever written. We hope ya’ll get as much out of them as we put into them.