Archive for August, 2007

31
Aug

The Hip-Hop Association proudly supports Danny Hoch

The Hip-Hop Association proudly supports Danny Hoch
and the Hip-Hop Theater Festival!

EARLYBIRD DISCOUNT!!

Use code HHTF20 for $20 TICKETS to Till the Break of Dawn!

Buy Tickets before Sept. 10th for performances through Sept. 23rd.

Culture Project is proud to present Till the Break of Dawn, a new play written and directed by Danny Hoch, in association with Hip-Hop Theater Festival.

The show will play at Abrons Arts Center at Henry Street Settlement from September 4th to October 21st, 2007.

A celebrated genius of the one man show, Danny has perfected each of the ten characters in his outrageously funny and explosive new play.

Set in the summer of 2001, Till the Break of Dawn chronicles a group of activists – teachers and artists – who attend a hip hop festival in Havana and find there struggling Cubans, global Hip Hip youths, and even a Black Panther in exile – a woman who challenges (and ultimately strengthens) the New Yorkers’ commitments to activism and to each other.

At the dawn of a turbulent new era, Danny’s crew learns that only after traveling far from home can they put their lives in perspective – and only then can their true education in the politics of social change begin.

Written and Directed by Danny Hoch
In association with Hip-Hop Theater Festival

Featuring
Bambadjan Bamba, Dominic Colon, Matthew-Lee Erlbach, Flaco Navaja, PattyDukes, Gwendolen Hardwick, Leanne L. Long, Jimmie James, James Jorsling, Maribel Lizardo, Johnny Sanchez, Luis Vega

Designers
Andromache Chalfant (Set), Garin Marschall (Lights), Valerie Marcus Ramshur (Costumes), Jill BC DuBoff (Sound), Nicole Frankel (Props)

Previews begin September 4

To purchase tickets, visit Theatermania.com
or call 212 352 3101.

Use code HHTF20 for $20 TICKETS to Till the Break of Dawn!
Buy Tickets before Sept. 10th for performances through Sept. 23rd.

30
Aug

THE JACKA & AMPICHINO PRESENT:
“DEVILZ REJECTZ”

devilzrejectzDevilz Rejectz – Tracklisting

1. Intro
2. Drug Dealers
3. 10 Toes ft. Ridiculous &
Nate da Nut
4. Try ft. Jinx (Go Dav)
5. Problems ft. Yukmouth &
Pretty Black
6. Mystery ft. Freeze
7. Interlude 1
8. Break Em Off
9. RapStarz
10. Certified Mobsters
11. Phone Call
12. Starz
13. Family First ft. Nate da Nut
14. Lifetime ft. Bossy & Jinx
15. Take It Easy
16. Interlude 2
17. Cold World ft. Chino Nino
18. That Boy ft. Nate da Nut
19. Hustlin Since ft. Ridiculous
20. Drop Top ft. Pretty Black
21. I Try (Remix)

August 30, 2007 — (Bay Area, CA)

“Devilz Rejectz” – the new album from the Jacka (of the Mob Figaz) & Ampichino (of the Regime) is a must buy, must listen. While working on his next solo album, entitled “Tear Gas,” Jacka took some time out to collaborate on a side project featuring Akron, OH’s own Ampichino. Devilz Rejectz features 21 soulful sounding tracks laced with hardcore, street content lyrics. The first single “I Try” featuring Jinx (Go Dav), is already creating a buzz on the streets with lyrics relating to the struggles of street life. The album is solid from beginning to end and definitely will satisfy those in need of a new dose of the Jacka. Production credits for the project include DJ Devro (Demolition Men), J.I., and Joe Millionaire.

Aside from the Devilz Rejectz release, Jacka has been in heavy demand in the streets working on new collaboration projects. Another anticipating release is Mob Trial 2 featuring Mob Figaz members Rydah J. Klyde and FedX, coming September 2007.

For information about the Jacka:

www.thejacka.com
www.myspace.com/thejackamobfigaz
Devilz Rejectz Myspace:
www.myspace.com/devilsrejectz

the Jacka contact:
Portia Jackson
Golden Mean Management
portia@goldenmeanmusic.com
Golden Mean Logo final MOBFIGAZLOGOWHITEBACKROUND

Portia Jackson
Publicist
Golden Mean Management
(702) 235-7712
portia@goldenmeanmusic.com
portiaj@sprint.blackberry.net

myspace.com/friscocali415
www.goldenmeanmusic.com

28
Aug

SISTAS SPEAK: LETTERS TO HIP HOP

SISTAS SPEAK: LETTERS TO HIP HOP

Women in Hip Hop are often misrepresented in mainstream media. In reality, these women (seen and talked about in music videos and in commercial radio) are a small proportion of the women who are involved in Hip Hop. The majority of women in Hip Hop are independent artists, organizers, educators, industry executives, and Hip Hop connoisseurs. These women’s perspectives are rarely portrayed in the media. We are looking to take a proactive stance in publicizing the unheard female voices from the multiple facets of Hip Hop culture and industry. Our goal is to allow all women to share their experiences of Hip Hop. We intend to compile the letters into a book to be published by an independent press. We invite women of all aspects of Hip Hop to contribute letters.

Guidelines:

1)Please submit a 500 – 800 word letter on one of the following issues. Bring your own unique experiences on hip hop to the letter.

2) Please include your full name and stage name if you have one, an e-mail and contact number.

3) A short bio consisting of 50 words or less. At this time, we are only accepting submissions from U.S. residents.

4) Please include this release with your submission:

I (Insert Full Name Here) give the Sistas Speak Project permission to publish my work.

Issues:

1. How can hip hop embrace motherhood, fatherhood and raising children?

2. What has your experience been as a female hip hop artist and how do you maintain your feminity in a positive way?

3. Who are some of your role models in hip hop? Why?

4. What are some ways to bring back the balance of how women are represented in hip hop?

5. How do you think relationships between men and women are portrayed in hip hop and what can be dome about it?

6. Often times in our communities women demean each other. What is the root of it and how can women move to support each other?

7. How do you teach young women to stand up for themselves and embrace their individuality?

8. What’s your best memory in hip hop and how has it affected you?

9. What is it like having a love hate relationship with hip hop?

10. How has hip hop inspired you to make a positive change in your community?

11. What is on your mind right now concerning hip hop?

12. What would happen if there were no women in hip hop?

13. How do you get hip hop artists to recognize the repercussions of the lyrics and images that they put out?

Deadline: Please submit by November 30th, 2007 to Sarah Harris sarah@hiphopcongress.com or Tachelle Wilkes at Tachelle@femmixx.com

Bios:

Sarah Harris has been involved in community organizing and working with youth populations since 1999. After volunteering with PIRGs (Public Interest Research Group) in Montana and Oregon for three years, she shifted her focus to youth empowerment and education as well as community organizing through the culture of Hip Hop. Shortly after graduating with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Sociology with an emphasis in Criminal Justice in 2002, Sarah became a member of the national grassroots organization Hip Hop Congress. In 2006, she founded the Women’s Project as a program of Hip Hop Congress to expand the presence of the female perspective in Hip Hop. She is now the interim director of the Women’s Project until the position is filled and will then be refocusing her energy on Hip Hop education and youth. Sarah has worked with youth of all ages and backgrounds in Portland, Oregon; Missoula, Montana; and Oakland and San Francisco, California in group homes and after school programs. She also has experience as a radio DJ and was a co-producer for the legendary Sunday Morning Cultural Affairs Outreach Show on the University of California college station KALX. Sarah brings musical balance to her life by playing classical and rhythm and blues on the piano. She currently lives and works in Oakland, California as an educational assistant and after school teacher at Berkeley Maynard Academy, an elementary charter school.

Tachelle “Shamash” Wilkes – Co-founder of Femmixx.com, the Home Of Female Music Producers, DJs & Emcees. Through Femmixx.com, Tachelle directed and executive produced “Lady Beat Makers Vol. 1,” a documentary on female urban producers and co-founded She’s My DJ Turntablist Mix & Scratch Battlle. Tachelle has also written for Vibe, The Source, Daveyd.com, industrycosign.com, Elemental, The Ave, and One World Magazines. As an artist she has opened for KRS-One and Doug E. Fresh and has been featured in media such as Scratch Magazine, Amsterdam Newspaper and on BBC Radio, WWRL Radio, ABC News and Hispanics Today on NBC. As a high school teacher and college professor, she is a believer in using hip-hop as a vehicle and healing infused education. Her high school students have performed at the United Nations Conference on Healing Through the Arts and developed Flav Teen Magazine. She holds a BA in English with a concentration in secondary education from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University and an MA in American

Literature from Brooklyn College.


Sarah Harris
Interim Director
Hip Hop Congress Women’s Project
www.hiphopcongress.org

28
Aug

Emily Dell’s filming the feature length film “B-Girl” in L.A. and they need extras

THanks Sarah! Our big battle scene is Next Weekend
and we need everyone to come out! Here’s the details:

SATURDAY SEPT 1 & SUNDAY SEPT 2: Shooting Feature Film
“B-Girl”, Open call for Extras and Dancers (LA)

“B-Girl” The FEATURE FILM is shooting in Los Angeles
and needs extras and dancers for major battle scene.
Come out and be a part of the first b-girl feature
film! Be there at 11am Saturday & Sunday, food
served. There will be giveaways, open cyphers and a
chance to be in the movie! The movie stars LADY JULES
and features POE ONE, FLIPZ, FLEAROCK, LEGACY, REMEDY,
STEELO, and many others. ADDRESS: The Escarpment:
5610 Soto Street, Huntington Park, CA 9025. More
info:
www.myspace.com/bgirlmovie
Wear whatever you like but no plain white shirts or
big logos. The more days you participate the more you
will be in the movie! Source: B-girl SheRox & Emily
Dell

28
Aug

Battle for the Soul of Downtown San Jose

The battle for the soul of downtown is on, and there will be a need in
the near future to develop an organized voice to engage this struggle.
It’s a surprise that it hasn’t happened yet. The more police there are
in downtown, the more surveillance cameras they set up, the more
expensive it becomes and the less welcome poor people feel there, the
more natural and possible an organized body becomes. The alternative
is just more cameras, more fees, more police, and less us.

Recently, cameras have been put up in the Fountain Alley on First and
Second Street in order to ward off what has been classic downtown drug
activity (Hope I’m not blowing’ up anybodies spot on this one). While
the tactic has been successful in heading off some of the activity,
many San Jose residents, including myself, have noted that the
activity has simply moved to another location just a few blocks south
of that intersection.

Even beyond the surveillance cameras, the continuously oppressive
nature of downtown culture is made more obvious by the imposition of a
parking fee on what were sensibly free lots. Although I’m sure the
City has an official line of what the fee increase is about, the
streets are talking, and the general consensus is that this an attempt
to control the parking lots, and the people who want to park in them.
It is becoming more and more apparent that whoever is in charge, has a
desire for certain elements to exist downtown, while removing anything
it considers dangerous or a threat. Typically these people are youth,
minority or visably poor people (at worst all three) some of whom may
be involved with criminal activity but the rest of which are simply
undesireable.

It wasn’t always like this.

I moved to San Jose in 1995, from the East Bay and rented a 3-room
duplex with my mother and my sister at the time. I fell in love with
downtown instantly. I loved the people, the vibe, and the park. I
loved everything about it. Maybe it was just a vibe thing, but where a
lot of people saw a rundown, underdeveloped downtown I saw people. I
saw real ass people going about their day and daily business. And a
lot of them didn’t mind if you kicked it.

I experienced a lot in downtown. My first Hip Hop show was at the
Cactus Club, where a lot of San Jose Hip Hop, Punk, Rock and Drum and
Bass was incubated. I freestyled at KSJS while the Da Underground was
still in affect. I know that I’m kicking some ole school rules, but I
am also contextualizing a point. Downtown has changed.

As far as Hip Hop goes, I saw the change coming when we were doing
street promotions in front of the HP Pavilion. There was a time when
it was most certainly on crackulation mode. There was hella folks
posted up outside after concerts from all over the Bay Area. Sean
Kennedy and his promotions squad, Get Paid Entertainment, Brotha Lynch
Hung’s Album, the Bootycrack, and a whole host of records labels,
artists and show promoters would be present. It was an industry event
every time. This is important, because what it represented was the
economic and social potential of a lively and active music industry.
No, Capitol Records and Def Jam weren’t setting up offices in San
Jose, but they were sure as hell sending out their promotions teams to
rep in the city. This meant opportunities for artists, clothing
designers, marketing and promotions teams, nightclubs, etc. I’m sure
the city has to know that that was the case.

And then the police came.

At first it was just a few units directing traffic. And then it was
more units controlling incoming and outgoing flow. Soon it just became
a shut down and now, street promotions, a necessary part of the
community and independent music industry came to an end in front of HP
Pavilion.

Over the last few years, we’ve seen clubs, people even actual,
physical houses being moved by forces like the Downtown Association
and the SJPD. On event nights like Mardi Gras or Cinco De Mayo, police
defense is strongest, ironically enough, where property value might be
considered highest and at highest risk, with a strong centralization
of defense located at City Hall, as if to prevent any storming of the
castle or something of that nature.

Our current downtown is defined by an ever-shrinking cultural scene,
an increasing police presence, surveillance cameras, and fees that are
excluding a community that once claimed downtown as our own.

The police are organized. So are the developers. If the people of
San Jose who do not feel represented by either of these parties which
to have a voice in the fate of their downtown, we’ll need to do the
same.


Shamako Noble aka The Sword of the West
President and Executive Director-Hip Hop Congress
CEO-Rondavoux Records
hiphopcongress.com
http://www.myspace.com/rondavouxrecords
myspace.com/shamakodnoble
shamako@hiphopcongress.com
206-910-5979

27
Aug

Subject: Youth Homeless Initiative- Youth Performance Groups!

Subject: Youth Homeless Initiative- Youth Performance Groups!

Dear Performance Artist,

I’m part of YouthNoise, an online youth community and nonprofit, nonpartisan youth networking site for social change. We are proud to launch an important initiative to bring awareness to the problem of youth homelessness. YouthNoise has taken on this task because of its growing importance for the future of the one and a half million homeless youth struggling to survive on the streets today. If all the homeless youth were placed in a city, populated only by them, it would be the seventh largest city in the United States

The effort, “Out of the Shadows,” is a contest that calls youth all across the country to submit their visions on how to end youth homelessness through video, text, or photo submissions on the YouthNoise website. The winners (by popular vote and a judging process) and a friend will be invited to a star-studded gala in New York City where they can spread awareness about youth homelessness and describe their vision. They will challenge their peers throughout America to develop projects demonstrating ways youth can start a movement towards change. YouthNoise and its partners will provide the resources and support to make the visions a reality, working together towards the end of youth homelessness.

The contest will be running August 1 through September 30.

If you are interested in promoting this cause please follow this link to download and post a banner. If any problems arise please feel to email the address below. Use this banner wherever you might like to raise awareness about teen homelessness or think that your constituents would be interested in participating. We hope the banner will become an identifiable marker of this campaign and our ollective movement for change. Take the first step.

To learn more about Out of the Shadows and teen homelessness, please visit our website YouthNoise.org. For questions or comments, please email feedback@youthnoise.org .

Keep making noise!

YouthNoise

YouthNoise.org

26
Aug

Ric She says: “I can’t survive without my radio.”

Ric She says: “I can’t survive without my radio.”

Indie Hip Hop artist Ric Shea is no Russell Simmons, but he is helping to progress the music, one mic at a time.

One thing is for sure: Hip Hop music has drastically changed since it’s late 1970’s conception. Nonetheless, there is something in the music that keeps listeners shawty snapping, thunder clapping, and rocking away. Call Ric Shea old school, but his goals as an artist are a bit different than those who are producing Hip Hop music today.

“I plan to take Hip Hop back to it’s roots,” he reflects. “When I was young, Hip Hop spoke a lot of the struggle. Now all artists talk about is their money. Money is cool, but I’d like to think [that] the next generation is more important.”

As a son of a jazz musician, the Chicago native understood the importance of quality music at an early age. The seed was planted when he saw his father’s first jazz performance before his sixth birthday. Since then, he’s been staying on his grind, while remembering the social responsibility he has to his listeners.

“I like to educate the kids, [and] that’s what Chuck D and Flava Flav did so well. Other artists followed, but we’ve gotten away from that. I would like to see us get Hip Hop’s essence back,” he said.

In the meantime, you can catch the conscious rapper making moves with some Wu Tang Clan members, hosting a party, or contemplating his next move in taking Hip Hop music by storm.

As for those who want to climb aboard Ric Shea’s train in taking Hip Hop to another level, he advises them to hit the books, first. “Study music’s icons of every era, then you’ll see where the vets of Hip Hop get their love from. We only love music because of the greats that came before us. That’s why you have your Jay-Z’s, and Big’s (Notorious B.I.G.), and Nas’ and Tupac’s.

Check out Ric Shea at http://www.myspace.com/ricshea





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