My High School Years re-visited

Rap releases in recent months have had me thinking that it was 1995 instead of 2006.

Rappers like The Coup, Ice Cube, E-40 and Busta Rhymes have all put out new albums this year. All released albums 10 years ago within a year's time frame.

In 1994, The Coup released "Genocide and Juice," the same year Ice Cube released "Lethal Injection" and E-40 delivered "The Mail Man." Busta Rhymes was a member of the group Leaders of the New School, whose sophomore album "T.I.M.E." dropped in 1993.

I was still in high school during this time, and remember buying all of those releases back then. So I figured it was worth checking out the new releases from these rappers, especially considering that a 10-year rap career is equivalent to a 20-year career in Major League Baseball. Rap is a young man's game and the grizzled veterans still pumping out product deserve at least a nod from the hip-hop public, if not a curtain call ovation.

First on the list, E-40's album, "My Ghetto Report Card," has been out for a few months now. It's release was intended to be the nation's introduction to the Bay Area's "Hyphy Movement," which I've been pining about in my blog for a few months now.

The album, produced by Lil Jon and Rick Rock, has it's highs and lows. A definite high is the opening number, "Yay Area," which jacks Digable Planets (another veteran act attempting a comeback) on the hook. The "We be to rap what key be to lock" vocal sample sounds insanely pitch perfect when combined with Rick Rock's trembling drums. Another winner is the single "Tell Me When To Go," a club anthem and new school Yay area classic. If you haven't heard this one, you haven't been paying any attention to rap music in the past six months.

The Debbie Downer points come about six songs in, when you realize that the album is a marathon length when it only needed to be a sprint. At a robust 22 tracks, the album filler is half and half. By the time you drag across the finish line to the best lyrics on the song, the outstanding "Happy Just To Be Here," you feel so spent you almost can't appreciate the extended run.

Busta Rhymes is centering his latest album, "The Big Bang," as the platform for his "King of New York" campaign. He corronated himself such at Hot 97's Summer Jam a few weeks ago, according to written reports, but he has as much a chance of being Frank Black as Lil Wayne (which is to say, not much).

The problem is that "The Big Bang just doesn't pack that much bang. The best song, "NY S***" jacks a beat that's several years old (An old Diamond D track), and aspires to be the biggest NYC anthem since "Deja Vu" by Corey Guns and Al Tariq. Yes, NYC rap has been in steady decline since Snoop came through and crushed the buildings, but Busta as its savior? I love Bussa Bus, but even he can't bring the city out of its rut. And when you're trying to resurrect the NY state of mind using Dre's beats, maybe you're fighting a long-lost cause.

Ice Cube, meanwhile, could himself have tried to bill his latest album "Laugh Now, Cry Later," as another attempt to resurrect the West Coast, but he knows better. Instead, he simply reaffirms his status as West Coast don, almost like" The Soprano's" Johnny Sac returning from the pen and taking back his spot as the boss of Brooklyn.

Cube's first sing, the hell-raising "Why We Thugs," updates the revolutionary but gangsta steez he originated on his first two albums, the classics "Amerikka's Most Wanted" and "Death Certificate." The album's hook asks the very serious question "They give us guns and drugs/then wonder why in the f*** we thugs." It takes aim at Bush and Clinton without falling into arm chair political rhetoric, and the beat is a monster.

The rest of the album falls right in line with that barn burner. Cube wins by simply doing what he's always done: big upping the West Coast and apologizing for nothing. The gangsta you love to hate is back.

So to are hip-hop's favorite anarchists, The Coup. Their debut, 1993's "Kill My Landlord," is easily one of my top ten all time favorite albums. And with "Pick a Bigger Weapon," they bust out as rap's version of SF Giants shortstop Omar Vizquel, savvy veterans who maintain success by simply improving on their winning formula.
Whereas Vizquel uses his golden glove and on-base-percentage, The Coup dazzle with grass-roots activism and Oakland funk. Like Vizquel joining the Giants lineup, The Coup strayed from long-time independent status to release an album on punk rock imprint Epitaph.

"Pick a Bigger Weapon's" secret weapon is Boots Riley's underappreciated lyricism. Boots has always been a thought-provoking rapper, but he seems to have found the balance this time out, with songs like "I Just Want to Lay Around All Day in Bed With You" and "My Favorite Mutiny" serving as the perfect framework for Riley's mind spray. And the latter finds Riley in appropriate company: MC's Black Thought and Talib Kweli, some of the most effective lyrical assassins, stand side by side with Rilly in killing the track.

And more than a decade after my first exposure to The Coup, it's great to hear that they are maintaining not only their relevancy, but quality of work this far in the game.

Quick Note: Savvy readers may have picked up on the fact that I have been on an unannounced hiatus the past few weeks. I will continue to be on hiatus through the rest of June (although a show review may pop up in spots). Fear not. I have not abandoned ship, but am merely taking a moment to re-charge my batteries and line up some more goodness through the summer. In the meantime, be patient, shoot me your comments, and keep clicking the link to the picture of the guy with the chubby cheeks. Al Rato.

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"The Beat Q&A: Dem Hoodstarz

Jay-Z first popularized the concept of "Getting Your Grown Man On," but you can safely say that Dem Hoodstarz have capitalized on it.

The Palo Alto-based duo consisting of rappers Scoot and Band Aid established itself on the Bay Area rap scene with two smash singles in 2005, "Bull S***" and the monster "Grown Man On (remix)." The latter, produced by San Jo-producer extraordinaire Traxxamillion, recieved considerable radio airplay and solidified their presence in The Yay, in spite of their South SF Bay locale.

The group performed in Santa Cruz recently, bringing out their wild stage show to their "Bay Area neighbor." With a recent film just wrapped, "The Yadida Movie," and another film project with TI, Jeezy and Akon in the works, the group appears to be expanding its earning potential. The album "Hood Reality 2," with it's subsequent DVD, is slated for an August release.

Dem Hoodstarz took time to talk to "The Beat" about their newfound success. Here's how it all went down.

What's good.
BA: Same e old same old man,

Thanks for taking time to talk to "The Beat."
BA: We want to thank you for interviewing us...


So, I've done something similar with your boy, Traxxamillion, as far as this interview stuff...
BA: Yeah, Traxx, that's our go to guy. That's like Joe Montana to Jerry Rice, a good combination.
Scoot: Yeah, we help each other out. We can't do it without the beat, and he can't do it without the rap.


Will this be your first time coming to the Central Coast?
BA: No, we've been in Santa Cruz before, we was at the car show for the radio station...
Scoot: Yeah, we was in Santa Cruz, at a car show...
BA: It was in in Monterey, for KDON.
Scoot: Not that one, I'm talking about the one. It was just me and you. It was like a lot of Surenos, They had the girls in bikinis washing the cars...

BA: Oh yeah, that was in Santa Cruz.

When was that?
S: That was about a year ago. We was pumping out some new stuff.

Are you familiar with the area?
S: Oh yeah, for sure.
BA: Santa Cruz, that's the neighbor to the Bay Area

How important is it that all Northern Cali get involved in the Hyphy movement?
S: It's so important. Without everyone else participating, we can't get the attention we need to make it as big. We feed of the energyf the crow, we feed of the energy of the fans.
BA: Without them properly letting it be known, this whole Hyphy thing can't get out to the rest of the world.
S: It seems like the whole Northern Carolina is already with it. They with us right now.

You guys are planning a tour?
BA: Yep, we just went on a radio promo tour, that was big. From Portland to Arizona, this summer, we're going to be working with the radio stations for more shows...
S: Just in Northern Cali alone, with the different people coming to the bay area we've been performing when they come out here. Like we're performing with with the Young Bloods and Dem Franchize Boys.
BA: Last night it was with Chamillionare and the field mob and that new guy, what's his name...
S: Lupe Fiasco...
BA: Yeah and on Sunday with Mobb Deep. And on Saturday, we're performing with Bubba Sparxx and Christina Millian.
S: And we just wrapped up a movie, "Yadida"...

Yeah, I want to get into that in a minute... Have you guys gone outside Cali? If so, what's been the response?

BA: (On their myspace.com page) We've been added to all types of space, all over the world. And when I say all over the world, I'm not saying the just the U.S. We've been getting added in Denmark, New Jersey.
S: We've been added in Alabama, Ohio, it's steady growing. The buzz has been phenomenal.
BA: Me and Scoot, we've always had dreams, but we never even thought our dreams would get to where they are now. That's making us push that much harder. We push for a goal, and we got past that. And now our goal is to reach a million, and that's our goal to reach a million people, worldwide.

What will it take to get people not from The Bay to understand the culture?
S: Right now, the Hyphy has spread like wildfire. With the success of E-40, with the whole BME, Warner Bros. situation, that was able to move it to a worldwide forefront. People like E-40, Too Short, ppl like the late Mac Dre, rest in peace, people like that is giving more light to the underground... But the Hyphy movement is not underground, it's real mainstream now... The whole world has accepted it, they've accepted what we got going on right now.That's the thing, we' making music right now, not just wax. We're making good music now, and they're able to feel it...
It's due to the success of E-40 and Too short, and now you see people like Keak tha Sneak, on MTV, a whole lot of record companies are paying attention to what's going on in the Bay.
BA: I don't think everybody really catches on, not yet. Really the only person who really is out there is like too short and E-40,
40 got that exposure, because he's on Warner Brothers, but he even said that his album wasn't all Hyphy. Too Short got that exposure, but that's just because he's been out for so long. They both have long money, so even if they company didn't help them out they're still out there...
I think they need to share some of that same spotlight with their fellow bay area artist, help some other folks get some of that shine. And then you can get a true understanding of what Hyphy is all about, because not everyone is getting it right now...
You can't never get the full definition of a word from the dictionary, that's why not everyone has been able to understand what we got going on over here.
To me, it seems like they really only listening to 40 and really not Keak. If they was his sales would be up more, maybe they should be out there giving him some more shine, some more face time on the videos and stuff...
I think everyone is catching up to it, but they not catching on to everything. They catching on to what 40 is doing, but there's new music coming out every day, and in stead of listening to one person, folks should be listening to everything that's out there...
Too Short, like I said, is talking about this pimping thing, and 40, the whole album is not supposed to be Hyphy. So (other regions) they need to hear different people's definition of Hyphy instead of going to one person, and then people will get a better understanding of how we living out here in the Bay Area.

You guys both sport them, so tell me, what's the significance of The Dreads? Is it anything like what Rasta's sport? Why is it the thing in the Bay?
S: It ain't just a Bay Area thing. It's not a bay, east, west, south, regional thing. It's a cultural thing. We rock our dreads as a statement, you feel me. We rock it as a statement of defiance. We shake our dreads and that's just how we do them. It's just for real, we just shake em, it's just a way of going down
BA: It's like, I know you been to a headbanger ball, when they be shaking their head hard, like "Arrgh!"
S: Yeah, you get to banging your head hella hard...
BA: Yeah, like that old school, Skid Row type of music... That's all Hyphy is. It's a form of crunk, a form of rock and roll, it's all that rolled into one...
It's a form of energy, and you can be doing anything. You can be kicking your friend, chomping off the head of a bat, whatever...
(begins to get excited) And you see, that's what makes it so crazy, we out there, we shaking our dreads, and we just acting out, and you might see someone on the intersection, they start to ghost ride the whip, and that makes you want to ghost ride the whip, go hard and go nutty. And then that maybe makes you want to jump on the hood of your car and start dancing, and it's like look at me, I'm going dum, I'm getting Hyphy, and it's in the middle of a damn intersection. And it's a party in the middle of the intersection...Damn, I just got hyphy on the phone (laughs).

What emphasis do you guys put on live shows? Do you try to do anything different from other artists with similar style?
S: Every show we get, we give it everything. If you've never been to a Hood Star performance, that's the thing. We keep that energy, it's wild...
BA: We was like, we underground, as far as the bay. As far as everyone getting into groups, our name wasn't mentioned on the radio or nothing, folks wasn't really talking about us like that. It wasn't until we started putting on shows, and folks started saying, "Hey, that Hood Star show, the crowd went crazy," and we started to make our name like that. That's kind of how we got started, was our shows.
S: We try not to ever keep the crowd calm. We want them to go crazy.
BA: We want to see a moshpit dance, like it was a rock concert, yadidamean. They moshpit dance like it was a rock concert. When we see them going, that keeps us going...

You guys just wrapped a movie. What was that experience like?
BA: That was our first time ever acting. It felt natural other than the cameras up in your face, i twa s cool because we had a lot of fun doing it. I played a character named hook and he played a char. name D-Plug. We run a pizza shop...The story isn't about us, it's about a dude named Stacy...It's comparable to Ice Cube's Friday, based on Northern California culture and life...Basically, it's about this dude named Stacy who comes from NY, and he don't understand what everybody is talking about, he doesn't understand what people are saying, he doesn't get the slang or anything, and he has to figure it out...It's a good movie and it's going to come out in December.

Will it be released in theatres?
S: It's going straight to DVD...The movie we're shooting in July, it's going got movie theaters. We don't know too much about the story, we just know it's with TI, Young Jeezy, and Akon

Is there any different dynamic/attitude that comes from being Palo Alto representatives? Do you guys have a different steez from say Oakland or SF?
BA: To tell you the truth, the only thing that comes from us being in a s smaller city, we have to work a little harder. We have to go get them different deals and get them different people to come to our community because they don't know about our community.
S: A lot of people don't hear about East Palo Alto.
BA: When you hear about Cali, someone that isn't from Cali, the first thing they think about is SF, then they think about Oakland or LA, they don't even know where Palo Alto is... It just makes it a little harder, to achieve what we want,
S: It's a struggle though. I'll tell you that.

You guys both have been through the system in terms of having both been incarcerated. Yet your music at times doesn't seem to reflect some of the hard-core gangsta living that other rappers with your guys background might suggest. Is there a conscious effort to keep your stuff a little more positive, less negative?
S: We tell our story. We telling our lives. We telling what we basically been through. We ain't telling nobody to do what we went through. We letting them know our story, at the same time, it's not like our album is based on that.
BA: It's based around things that go on in our hood. It's based around things that happen. It's surrounding those issues that you might not see in the TV or read in the newspaper, it's everyday thins that we do, whether it's going to the club, or just chillin on the day to day. It's stuff that's taken from our everyday lives, but we ain't candy coating nothing.
S: We got some subconscious songs, like about growing up with your moms on crack, because in the black community, that's what we grew up on. We just basically let them know how it really is and how it really was.

What's your definition of getting your Grown Man On?
S: To me, the reason why we had to talk about getting grown is we're trying to get everybody away from the Hyphy, get them out the white t -shirts and the dreads. We're trying to make our whole album well rounded, we try to say, we're with the hyphy movement, but we're not necessarily Hyphy. We're trying to make it so you're able to feel what we talking about on all kinds of different levels, and not just stuck on one mode.
BA: My definition, it means... when it's time to quit playing the games and you gotta really get your grown man, on, you can take your life and make things happen for yourself. It's taking responsibility for yourself, for your life, for your bills, and taking care of everything on your own. That means, you're doing it for yourself and not depending on anyone else.
Getting your grown man on isn't about living at home with your mom and pops or having your girl take care of your and your bills. What it means to me, is being able to do for yourself. If you're grown, you get your own money, if you're a grown man or grown woman, you're making your own for yourself. That's what it's all about.

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Lupe Fiasco live in SF

Lupe Fiasco crammed five months of buzz into a five-song, 25 minute set in San Francisco on Thursday night. It was engaging, sometimes exciting, but all too an abrupt ending.

The Chicago MC, who is either a Kanye West protege or hired gun, depending on how you look at it, has endeared himself to a cross section of hip-hop fans due to his chameleon-esque persona: a nerd/skater/street/lyrical MC, marketed just in time to be a boon for the myspace.com generation.

He stole the show on West's second single, "Testify," and the first single from his album, a catchy ditty called "Kick, Push," has slowly caught on with both taste maker hip-hop snobs and BET-watching teeny boppers, all enthralled with his understated cool and straightforward approach.

And so on Thursday night, performing at Mezzanine in front of a packed house, Lupe did what all good stars in the making do: he left the crowd wanting more, lots more.

The night was hosted by some guy named Ant Marshall, who purported to be co-founder of the Lyricist Lounge in NYC (I'll have to google his name later on to get all the facts). The opening acts were locals trying to establish themselves, probably performing their biggest gigs in their short careers that night.

Prophet was a pretty cool SF emcee with a sorta sing-songy flow (more straining that harmonizing, but still carrying a note here and there). His DJ Dozier (hope I'm spelling that right) had a bit of a hard time adjusting to the mixer, and was openly ecstatic when he finally got it going. The fun in watching locals open up for bigger name artists is in seeing those moments unfold, when an artists humanity shows through for a quick second.

Elemnop, a four-mc, two-dj crew, got the party heated. These guys, who appeared to be predominantly Asian/Filipino, rocked a breathless set, with songs running into one another. They never missed a beat, and apparently brought out a large contingent of followers with them to celebrate. These guys could be worth watching over the next year or so (check their Web site, www.elemnop.com).

Lupe came out to the beat from Nas' "Thief's Theme," looking really skinny and scholarly. Rocking Ben Franklin bifocals and a white LRG t-shirt, Lupe treated his set like a 40-yard dash, with barely a moment to catch your breath.

The opening freestyle was followed by his verse from "Blood Diamonds," the West-jacking mixtape song that supposedly inspired Kanye to record "Diamonds are Forever" remix. That remix included lyrics about the blood diamond trade in Sierra Leone.

Lupe quickly jumped into his big hit, "Testify," milking his 16-bar verse and the chorus for all it's worth. It worked, as the crowd seemed to jump up in jubilation at the Curtis Mayfield-sampled horns. One dude charged through the crowd screaming, cutting through me and my homeboy in an odd moment. A few minutes later, that same dude staggered through the crowd. I reasoned to my buddy that the guy was probably some sort of crowd plant hired by Lupe to perform such theatrics.

Lupe stood triumphant after that song, and declared "They say hip-hop is coming back, y'all!" As if he were the one that was responsible for such an insurgence. The audacity. I'd call it swagger jacking, but he's co-signed by Jay-Z (who is executive producing his album), so Hov probably requires such confidence in his artists.

A high-speed song whose title seemed to be "ERRRNNNGGHHHH" — mimicking the sound of an engine on a race car passing by— was next. It was appropriate in the muscle car-loving Bay Area. But mid-song, he flipped into a Chi-town bounce track, slowing down the lyrics but not the intensity.

And then came the show-stopping "Kick,Push," which was literally, a stop to the show. Lupe insisted on dropping then re-dropping the intro horns four times. Four Times! Talk about getting the most out of your music. Luckily, he had enough quiet charisma to keep it going each time he "pon da replayed" the beat. A lesser artist might have dropped the crowd momentum, which was considerable.

After doing the song and the "Kick,Push" dance routine (which consisted of a simulated skateboard kick to the floor in time with the beat), Lupe made like he was going to do "ERRRNNNGGHHH" again, then decided to cut out. No explanation, barely a word of thanks to the crowd, and the DJ Apollo (local legend who also ripped it that night) came out to spin some more, thus leaving no chance for an encore.

It was short, sweet and to the point. Which leads me to believe that this guy could very well be that dude once his album drops in the summer.

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"The Beat's" 2006 BET Awards Predictions

I'm not one to handicap music awards shows (or anything else, for that matter), but the allure of guessing the winners of the BET Awards is too great to pass up.

The nominees were announced today, and the leaders are an unsurprising quartet of Black Star Power (as the network once heralded itself): Mary J. Blige, Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliott and Jamie Foxx predictably lead the way with four noms each. All four have either released or will release a new album within the year.

The awards show is still in its infancy stages (what is this, like the fourth annual installment?). Still, it's produced some memorable moments: M'onique doing the Beyonce booty quake to the tune of "Crazy in Love" while 'Yonce watched with terrified glee; Rick James performing with Teena Marie and then announcing the girl in the back who didn't recognize him "I"m Rick James, Bitch!"; Marie's over-the-top eulogy to James a year after their performance together, complete with spoken word delivery and dark-skinned white girl moxie.

With that said, let's take a look at the nominees and my predictions for this year's awards:

Female Hip Hop: Missy Elliott, Lil’ Kim, Remy Ma, Shawnna, Trina.
Analysis: Let's see, Lil' Kim has a show on BET, ther videos still get play on 106 & Park, and I'm pretty sure she'll be all over the network once she's released from prison later this year (call her the Martha Stewart of hip-hop, minus the domestic skills). Prediction: Kim, easy.

Male Hip Hop: 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, Common, T.I., Kanye West.
Analysis: An interesting field. Common has a snowballs chance in hell of winning, but it's a nice gesture anyway. Veteranos 50 and Busta could cancel each other out, leaving T.I. and Kanye to do battle. A win for T.I. could solidify his standing as "Kang of the Souff," but then Kanye might throw a total BF. Prediction: Kanyeezy, for sheezy.

Collaboration: Beyonce featuring Slim Thug, ‘‘Check on It’’; Bow Wow featuring Ciara, ‘‘Like You’’; Busta Rhymes featuring Mary J. Blige, Rah Digga, Missy Elliott, Lloyd Banks, Papoose and DMX, ‘‘Touch It-Remix’’; Jamie Foxx featuring Ludacris, ‘‘Unpredictable’’; Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx, ‘‘Gold Digger.’’
Analysis: Foxx is nominated twice, once as the main attraction and once as a feature, so odds are in his favor. Standing in his way: Busta-Bus' NYC resurrection/all-star jammy-jam "Touch It" has been in the 106&Park Top 10 for a hot minute, and could steal the show. Also, I wouldn't count out Bow Wow and Ciara's cute coupling/publicity stunt collabo. Prediction: Kanye "We Want Prenupt" West and Jamie "Don't Call Me Ray" Foxx for "Gold Digger."

Female R&B: Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Keyshia Cole, India.Arie.
Analysis: Any other year, 'Yonce would probably be the front runner, but she only came with that Pink Panther single this year (Next year, this award is hers). In the meantime, we have an interesting battle between the 'hood Queen, Mary J., and the new ghetto princess, Keyshia Cole. I nominate Cole as the heir to Mary's ghetto-goddess throne, but head-to-head, it's no match. Prediction: MJB tha MVP.

Male R&B and New Artist: No need to list the nominees in these categories. Anyone not betting on Ne-Yo to sweep both is just playing themselves.

Group: Black Eyed Peas, Destiny’s Child, Floetry, Mary Mary, Three 6 Mafia.
Analysis: I can't remember seeing a Black Eyed Peas video on BET at all this past year, so their nom is a bit of a shock. DC could get the sentimental vote, but BET has been plugging Three 6 Mafia's Oscar win, so they are my darkhorse. Prediction: Them Memphis Boys from the Triple-Six Mafia.

Gospel Artist: Yolanda Adams, Kirk Franklin, Mary Mary, Smokie Norful, CeCe Winans.
Analysis: There is some unwritten rule that Yolanda Adams should win this award every year. I think it was written by god herself. Prediction: Yolanda Adams.

Video of the Year: Beyonce featuring Slim Thug, ‘‘Check on It’’; Mary J. Blige, ‘‘Be Without You’’; Busta Rhymes featuring Mary J. Blige, Rah Digga, Missy Elliott, Lloyd Banks, Papoose and DMX, ‘‘Touch It-Remix’’; R. Kelly, ‘‘Trapped in the Closet’’; Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx, ‘‘Gold Digger.’’
Analysis: Hype Williams directed two of the video nominees and both were gorgeous. But let's be real: "Trapped in the Closet" was secretly everyone's favorite song/video last year. I just want to know which part is being nominated (I vote for part 1, but parts 2-57 were amazingly canny in their own right). Prediction :Kells (wonder if he's gonna wear that creepy Zorro mask?)

Actress: Tichina Arnold, Taraji P. Henson, Thandie Newton, Queen Latifah, Alfre Woodard.
Analysis: It's hard to predict this one because the nominees aren't recognized for any single work (what was Thandie Newton in last year?). But on blind faith, I'll say Taraji has the best shot. Her performance in "Hustle & Flow" was so overlooked (possibly because her character was so vulnerable, which played to one too many female stereotypes). Prediction: Taraji "It's hard out here for a pimp's wife" Henson.

Actor: Chris ‘‘Ludacris’’ Bridges, Don Cheadle, Jamie Foxx, Terrence Howard, Denzel Washington.
Analysis: Nice touch nominating Luda for his breakout performance in both Crash and Hustle and Flow. But c'mon, we all know Howard takes this one, easy. It'll be nice to say he beat both Jamie and Denzel in an acting category. Prediction: Terrence "I don't like rap music" Howard.

Female Athlete: Laila Ali (boxing), Chamique Holdsclaw (basketball), Lisa Leslie (basketball), Sheryl Swoopes (basketball), Venus Williams (tennis).
Analysis: Venus had a down year, so she doesn't deserve to win. Laila is overrated, and neither Chamique nor Lisa Leslie did anything other than keep their names respectable to get a nomination. Therefore, I'm picking Sheryl Swoopes, who quietly has made a case for herself as the greatest female basketball player of all time (sorry Cheryl Miller, but it's true). Her bold move of outing herself as being lesbian deserves some quiet recognition as well. Prediction: Ms. Swoopes, if you're nasty.

Male Athlete: Kobe Bryant (basketball), LeBron James (basketball), Shaquille O’Neal (basketball), Tiger Woods (golf), Vince Young (football).
Analysis: Like Ne-Yo in the music categories, LeBron's name should be the lone one in this category. Have you been watching the Cavs-Pistons series? Geez. I didn't think he'd penetrate the Big 3-D (Ben and Rasheed Wallace, Tayshon Prince) like that. Prediction: Lebron "I'm really 31 years old" James.

BET J Cool Like That: Eric Benet, Anthony Hamilton, Heather Headley, Kindred the Family Soul, Corinne Bailey Rae.
Analysis: Eyes closed, I'll just take a guess. Ummm... Anthony Hamilton. Phew, that was close.

BET.com Viewers’ Choice: Chris Brown, ‘‘Excuse Me Miss’’; Busta Rhymes, ‘‘Touch It’’; Mariah Carey, ‘‘Don’t Forget About Us’’; Keyshia Cole, ‘‘Love’’; Ne-Yo, ‘‘So Sick’’; T.I. ‘‘What You Know.’’
Analysis: Ya girl Keyshia deserves something and this is where she should shine. No one has been more popular with young black girls on 106 & Park than Cole. They sing her songs verbatim, with heart, whenever she shows up. Not bad for an Oakland native. Prediction: Ya Girl Keyshia.

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"The Beat" Q&A Interview: MC Zion of Zion I

Seems like for the past two years, Zion I has been carrying the Bay Area's underground indy hip-hop scene on its back. As veterans of the Bay Area's hip-hop scene, they have managed to remain relevant and fresh four albums into their careers, a coup in the hip-hop universe.

Back in 1998, when they released their critically praised debut "Mind Over Matter," the group was lauded for their east coast-styled beats, MC Zion's nasal-toned delivery and high impact lyrics, and DJ/producer Amp Live's experimental beats (mixing drum n bass with old school boom bap). The group has maintained that quality control through their recent album release, 2005's "True & Livin." They have also established themselves as road warriors, performing between 150 to 200 shows a year.

MC Zion, the group's frontman, recently took time to talk to "The Beat" before the final stop on their recent tour (show review can be viewed below). He talked about hyphy, touring non-stop, and the group's upcoming projects with Bay Area underground and turf rappers.

Thanks for taking time to talk to "The Beat."
It's all good man.


You just finished a long tour? How many dates?
All together like 28 shows.

You guys tour a lot?
For the last couple of years we've just been out there.

It seems like a lot of mainstream rap artists, specifically street and gangsta rappers, don't tour as much as the indy cats. Can you speak in general about the benefit of being such a road warrior as an indie hip-hop artist?
It really, for us, has always been one of our best ways to market ourselves and our music to our fans. They have a close attanchment than if they see a video or hear you on the radio. It's been one of the main ways to get a fan base or to expand our fan base. We stuck by it and pounded it out and kep going on tours and trying to make our show better.

You guys have one of the livest shows I've seen. Is that due to the constant touring?
It's also like, it's definitely a conscious effort to try to make it hype and keep it live. The years of doing it doens' hut, it adds to it.

A lot of it is that we spend a lot of time practicing. Some shit is not hype, other stuff isn't, and you find a way to clip the stuff that's isn't and get witht the stuff that is...

(the phone cuts off; after several attempts at redial, we finally hook up again...)

What was the best show on the recent tour?
The best show? There were a lot of good ones. I thought Vancouver (British Columbia) was dope.

What stood out with that show?
I just didn't expect it. I didn't expect it to be hot, and I didn't expect people to show up. And when they showed up,they showed up in droves, they knew all the words to the songs.

That one, Madison, Wisconsin was dope. The show in Boston was dope. The show in Seattle was dope... It was a dope tour for us. I have no complaints whatsoever.

You guys are from the Bay, and I'm sure you've noticed the whole hyphy thing is kinda blowing up now in the mainstream, what's your impression?
I like it, some of them cats do that music for my peoples. I think it's great for The Bay to lay claim to something new and fresh. For a long time, we've been slept on. And not just the G-shit, even indy cats.

I think it's good the youngsters have created something dope and different and new. And it's good to see a vet like E-40 has championed it. Hopefully it will make a young cat come up and make a name for themselves and make it a tradition. It's fun to dance to in the club. It's a good time regardlesss.

You did a remix of your song "The Bay," that had street/turf rappers like Balance, San Quinn and Turf Talk. Is there room for more intermingling between the bay's hyphy/turf rappers and its indy rappers?
I definitely think so. I don't think everyone can do it, but to me it's all hip-hop and its your perspective on what's going on around you. I feel like generally speaking, good hip-hop comes from a unique place, your unique vision on life in general.

We're definitely planning to make a whole mixtape dedicated to that idea, mixing turf cats with indie cats. After we finish this album with the Grouch and Zion I, we'll do that hopefully for the summer.

We're trying to push the boundary for what people will expect It's all music to us. I'm an old school hip hop cat. When we first got on to hip hop, it was Totally different. You had A Tribe Called Quest doing songs with Mobb Deep, and it's a different perspective but it totally work. That's the view we're on right now.


Which musicians, hip-hop or otherwise, influenced you coming up?
Early on, cats like Earth, Wind & Fire, The Gap Band, Rick James, just funk based stuff. When hip-hop came around, I got into jazz, stuff like Coltrane, Rakim, Bob Marley, Nas, Outkast ,A Tribe Called Queat, Run-DMC. Just a lot of the golden age stuff.

Any new projects we should be looking out for?
The Zion I/Grouch album.

That sounds cool.
Yeah, it sounds pretty cool, the album itself. It's a good look right now, wer'e a little more than halfway finished. We should be out by September or so. After that we're working on the Zion I album for next year. Our distribution company closed down, otherwise we'd have stuff out now.

We have this album called The Alpha, it's a bunch of songs from the old school days, pre-Mind Over Matter. I don't know when that will come out, we'll see... Amp Live has a new mix CD, it's a bunch of mash ups. I have a solo joint, Baba Zumbi, The Science of Breath part two, that's like my own mixtape, alter ego type of thing.

What's up with Duece Eclipse?
He just dropped his album, Radio Plantation, he's got an album out right now, check it out.

Anything else you wanna throw out there?
Check out the weebsite, www.zionicrew.com. We hav a new video online on blastro, it's just basic stuff. Check it out.

Thanks again for taking the time to talk to us in Monterey County.
For sho, man.

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Music Does Exist in the City of Salas

So much of my recent stuff has revolved around music and events happening outside of my hometown that it's easy to forget there's a scene in Salas. This weekend, I got a fresh reminder.
Although the Cinco De Mayo weekend had a lot to do with it, there were actually two shows in town to speak of: punk rock fare at La Perla in Downtown (which has become the hot spot for indy rock/punk in the absence of The Cherry Bean) and dub-rock/roots reggae across the street at the American Legion Hall (of all places).
I ventured into the smokey confines of the American Legion (motto: "Don't be fooled by the whole crusty old guy motif, we do have some hip stuff going on"). On stage, the homies from Wasted Noise, a five-piece ska/punk outfit from Salinas, were setting it off pretty good.
I've seen these guys do random shows around town (The Cherry Bean, Lava Lounge, La Perla) and get better and better with each set. Their sound is par with the dub-rock sound that seems so popular around these parts; lots of skank guitar and one drop drum patterns with heavy bass and catchy lyrics. It would be easy to put them in a box and compare them to 311, Slightly Stoopid or any other so-Cal skank-rock artist, but the vibes are similar.
What impressed me was the solid groove they all settled into towards the end of their set (I got there midway through the set, when everyone was kind of just standing around and afraid to get on the dance floor). Their second to last song got all the fly heinas on the dance floor doing their thing, and the lead singer/drummer seemed to conduct the band from behind a thick wall of speakers (you could barely see the guy). He somehow managed to stand up and sing, play the drums, and lead the audience in a call and response all at once. And the rest of the band kept pace, never once dropping a riff (as is the tendency of new bands playing unfamiliar venues) or missing a beat. Definitely a strong finish.
(The cutest thing: after the show, the mom of one band member came up to me and asked if I would do a feature story on her son's band. Look for an article in the near future, thanks to mom).
My boys Cali Nation batted second. Full disclosure: I did join the group for a song, the buffed up cover of "Hotel California" mixed with a little "California Love." But watching Cali navigate a show is always a fun time.
These guys have been playing together so long, the songs almost fall into one another seamlessly. Their set definitely kept the energy of the night going, and set the table for Dubwize' homecoming.
And Dubwize delivered a typically solid set, mixing high-traction dub riddims with quicker dance numbers. These guys are like rasta-revving combustible engines that hum with smooth efficiency.
The whole point of this blog isn't to necessarily size up the artists that night, nor try and write some sort of wild-eyed fan boy love letter praising the evolution of a sorely needed music scene in my hometown. It's simply to put it out there that live entertainment can happen in Salinas like clockwork, with little to no promotion and unnecessary authoritative presence (both shows went off without a hitch, and everyone was respectful of the venue and the music).
And regardless of whether or not there's ever a legit "scene" in my hometown or not, music will always have a presence. This week, Vicente Fernandez makes a return trip to town, probably the 20th time he's come through. He loves Salinas, and Salinas loves him, and that's why he always makes it a point to come here. He could easily sell out HP Pavillion or something (and I'm sure he will at some point this year) but he chooses Salinas because the fan base is there, and folks do just want to come out and have a good time.
That's what it's supposed to be about.

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Freak-A-Leak: Vol. 2.0

A buddy of mine was lamenting the availability of hip-hop albums that are leaked on the internet. "I feel guilty," he said. "And it's always hip-hop albums that get leaked."

True, the leaked album seems to be a hip-hop phenomenon, dating back to bootlegged cd's sold in advance of an album's release at local swap meets and flea markets, or by big city bootleggers on street corners. And honestly, it's unfair to the artists: their hard work sometimes compromised by greedy hangers-on or shady studio employees looking to make a quick buck.

But they are also a guilty pleasure of mine. I confessed in my last leak issue that I sometimes roam the internet late at night in search of album leaks. That was a bit of an exaggeration (my late night internet sessions are usually reserved for free video poker). In any event, I seem to stumble across leaks by accident. So I figure, I might as well share them with y'all.

Here are a few reviews of the latest bunch I've come across (and don't worry, I plan on buying each of these the first week they are out in stores, when record labels gauge most rap records marketability).

Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere: Last Freak-a-Leak, I reviewed a nameless, seven-song leak 'Gnarls Barkley' (sic) that I felt particularly lucky to have scored. This time I scored the whole thing, and I got to say, it's just as good as I had anticipated.

So good, in fact, that I've decided not to listen to the whole thing, as not to completely spoil the anticipation of buying the album when it is release (May 9). But I have listened to the seven songs that were on the original leak, and they are definitely more polished (plus I have names to go with the tracks now).

My second favorite song on the leak, "Who Cares," sounds crisper, and with a different hook ("And I could go on and on and on/But Who Cares?"). It's a more complete song.

And the lead single, "Crazy," well, it's become a hit in the UK, which is promising. Cee-Lo's crooning is Al Green-esque (my sister said so), and Danger Mouse's production is a smash. I even had a friend e-mail me the other day trying to figure out the name of a song he had heard and couldn't get out of his head. The song was "Crazy." Nuff said.

Buy this album this week. Buy two copies, one for you and one for your moms on Mother's Day (I know she's a big Cee-Lo fan).

Lupe Fiasco - Food and Liquor: This is one of those tragicomic leaks. Lupe is a Kanye West protege, signed to Mike Shinoda's (of Linkin Park) record label, and his album was one of those hot, highly anticipated, critical darling-in-the-making type of debuts that was set to change the game and earn him a lot of groupies (male and female alike). Then, the bottom fell out a few weeks ago when his album leaked.

Lamenting the premature release on okayplayer.com, Lupe sounded sad but resigned: he was pissed that he would have to re-do the entire album, but at the same time he invited fans to give it a listen and let him know what they thought.

Well, you don't have to tell me twice. I found the sucker and boy, is it a banger. I know I usually give positive reviews of stuff on this here blog, but that's only because I only write about stuff I like (why waste time complaining about bullshit? I want to enjoy this stuff). That being said, this Lupe Fiasco is the ish.

It reminds me sort of Nas' debut, Illmatic, not because of the quality of the material (Illmatic is a certified classic, after all), but because it's pretty much just Lupe on his own, riding beats from some known and unknown producers. "You My" sounds like a Neptunes-produced, breezy punch to the ribs. I'm not sure if that's Pharrell doing the falsetto hook, but it works just as well as anything Skateboard P has freaked.

"Never Lies" is an emo-jam with Lupe spitting furious rhymes over a rock and roll rhythm. "Hustla's Song" is a stone cold groove that takes a refreshing, remorseful look at the coke rap craze hip-hop can't seem to get past. And of course, the single "Kick, Push" is a revelation: a song about a young, black skater in the ghetto dealing with the trials and tribs of young love, rebellion and identity. It's a simple song with a complex design, and Lupe rides the groove smoother than a Stevie Williams kick-flip ollie.

Q-Tip - Live at the Renaissance: Q-Tip and Andre 3000 collaborate on a song!

Do I need to continue? Okay, if you insist.

This leaked a couple of weeks ago, and it's supposed to be the new album from Q-Tip, post Kamaal The Abstract (the album he recorded some four years ago but was never released due to label drama/dissatisfaction). And Tip actually raps on this one, after Kamaal The Abstract reportedly had Tip singing.

As for the Tip/Dre collab, well, it's almost too sexy in an Antonio Banderas-keep-ya-shirt-on type of way (no homo). Andre 3000 sings the hook, and the bridge, doing his best to get his Prince on. Its a thorough funk jam, complete with sweaty R&B guitar skank, shakers, and a pulsating thump. I don't know if the boho ladies are ready for this one.

The rest of the disc is a jazzy, subtle cruise, with Tip displaying his player card for all to see. "Say Something For Me" is for the ladies, as is "Lisa," Feelings," and "I Believe," which features the estranged okayplayer D'Angelo singing a gospel hook.

But Tip also brings some boom-bap for the heads, in the form of the J-Dilla sounding production "Official" (Dilla's off-kilter scratch hooks and staticky but sharp percussion are in full effect), and on the incredible "I'm Not Gon Have It." On that song, Tip actually sounds hungry and aggressive, over a slow-rolling, distorted funk track. Tip boasting "I'm fiery, lucid and fast/ you can't dart me."

I don't know if this will ever see the light of day, but it's damn good, that's for sure. Q-Tip sounds refreshed, and considering A Tribe Called Quest is my second favorite hip-hop group of all time (behind only De La Soul), it's a relief to hear him back to his usual quality self. Now if we can only see an official release, I'll be happy.

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Zion-I and Deuce Eclipse Live in SF

Dateline, San Francisco. Friday night. Zion-I and the crew return home to a hero's welcome, and for one night, Bay Area hip-hop doesn't revolve around muscle car stunts and spastic dancing, synth-driven keyboard beats and designer drugs.

Zion-I and Deuce Eclipse performed at the Independent for one of the livest shows I've been to in a while. And, yes, they did get hyphy with it (to a degree), but really, they transcended the Bay Area's latest craze in exchange for true artistic showmanship and craft. Enough to make the backpacker crowd go dumb.

My homie DJ Worldwize served as an opening act, getting the crowd all yellow-bus stupid with Yay Area bangers like "Hyphy Juice" by Clyde Carson and "Blow the Whistle" by Too $hort. Ya boy knows how to move the crowd on the wheels (I gotta get him in here for an interview, pronto. Dave, if you're reading this, h@yb!).

Deuce Eclipse rolled up next. This Nicaraguan nightmare is a beast on the mic, boasting a breathless flow and indigenous estilo. He busted out with a freestyle from the Zion I mixtape "Family Business," claiming he's "The Oywalk/Never with no toy talk" and meaning it (I still don't know what Oywalk means, or if i'm even spelling it right).

Later, he proclaimed "We doin' it Straight for Nicaragua," and then flipped as nimbly in the King's English as he could in Espanol. He even implored the crowd to get hyphy before running through a tongue-twisting freestyle in bilingual tongue, rough and sinister at once.

"When it's Dia De Los Muertos/You'll see me with a mask on" was one of many lines that caught my attention through the night. I went to buy his new cd, "Live from the Plantation," but they didn't have any on display at the merch table. Somebody hook me up with his new disc, please!

As the night wore on, it became a large-scale Bay Area celebration. Everyone from E-40 to Crown City Rockers was getting props from the show's host. And just when it looked like the smoke was starting to settle, Zion I came onstage to a large roar form the crowd.

MC Zion sported fresh dreads and a T-shirt promoting the group's last album, "Tru & Livin'" (which was one of my top 10 picks for 2005). Amp Live, the group's DJ/Producer, manned a work station that included turntables, CDJ tables, a groove box, and other noise making contraptions, giving him the appearance of a mad scientist working a nuclear silo.

Live, Zion's voice is a commanding rebel yell, contrary to the helium-balloon-inhaling tone he sports on record. They stuck mostly to tracks off of "Tru & Livin'" and the "Family Business" mixtape, although the song "Cheeba Cheeba" from their second disc showed up three tracks in.

Amp Live did his patented beat-switch, sound-selector movida, going from the recorded track to an improvised beat performed live on his drum machine. It's a brilliant display of low-fi beat-matching, something that more rap group's should strive fore. Songs like "Temperature" and "Poems for Postmodern Decay" got this transformative treatment, going from a live song to a jazz-inspired sonic experiment in the flip of a switch.

As the show hit its stride, I realized that Zion I has singlehandedly carried the Bay Area underground scene on its back for the past two years. No other underground group has produced as much dope material and toured as extensively as this duo, and it shows in both their stage show and crowd interaction. These guys get love in their home turf for a reason.

The energy reached a crescendo with "Bird's Eye View," the first single off the "Tru & Livin'" album and a showstopper. Lots of heads bouncing in the front row. Watching from an elevated view, the place looked like it was ready to take off.

Deuce joined the crew on stage to spit some light-speed fast freestyles over a beat that sounded like JJ Fad's "Supersonic." The way the crew drew energy off of one another, it was like an old school revival, where the dj played the beat and the MC's got the crowd hype.

The group did an encore to showcase a new song, then got into their tribute to the place they live, the single "The Bay." The remix of the song featured a synthesizer-driven remix that was perfect for the club, and the trio of MC Zion, Deuce and hypeman DUST (along with a chicano MC who I swear looked like bay g-rapper Mr. Kee) got down for the crown.

It was a perfect ending to a hype night of Yay Area funk, proof that the area's talent pool is deeper than one hot for the moment trend.

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"Inventos: Hip-Hop Cubano." A Q&A interview with Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi

Full Disclosure: I spent a summer living with Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi and his family in Berkeley. It was 1996, and I was interning at the Marin Independent Journal.

Eli and his brother, a livewire cat named Kahlil, were friends with my fiancee. They hooked me up with a room in their house, and showed me a lot of love. I vibed especially well with Eli, since we both loved hip-hop music and had a natural curiosity for all things funky.

Although he split his time between the house in Berkeley and his family's home in Sacramento that summer, we still hung out and made a tiny bit of noise, and we would run into one another through the years at various shows, political rallies, and what not.

Now, as grown up, professionals working in the media biz and still pursuing our interests and love of hip-hop, it's appropriate that we connect like this. Eli's doing big things as a documentary film maker, having achieved a national distribution deal for his underground banger "Inventos: Hip-Hop Cubano."

"Inventos" is a stunner - a raw, heartfelt glimpse into the lives of a group of young Cuban hip-hop artists trying to develop a scene on the island, with extremely limited resources. It takes the culture and the music to it's essence: folks doing it simply for the love, young people enamored with the energy and rage and beauty of hip-hop cultura.

The film, released in 2003, has made the film festival rounds, scored a few awards. It's also set him up to complete his next film, an introspective look at Ghanian hip-hop.

Last year, Eli screened the movie at the CSU-Monterey Bay campus, to rousing success. It can be purchased at local bookstores and music stores, or you can buy it online www.clenchedfistproductions.com. There will be a screening of the movie at 5 p.m., April 27, San Francisco State, HSS Building, room 135, in San Francisco

Eli took the time to talk to "The Beat" recently to politic a little something. That same love for hip-hop culture and his accute, natural curiosity were on display, only now he has the film festival awards to show for it.


What's up man. Thanks for talking to "The Beat."
For sure.

So, just give me the rundown in your words, how "Inventos" came about.
"Inventos" started in 1994 when my brother (Kahlil Fantauzzi) went down to Cuba and met up with a group called Aminaza (sic), which later became Orichas. Since that time he was telling me "Man, you gotta go down to Cuba." Because of what it represents in the world, I always wanted to go.
I was in the Caribbean, and (Khalil) said he was going again. That was in 2000, I met up with him. And we just did that. I took my camera with me, and started shooting what I saw, and it was really raw...

When I came back, I was showing people, and they got real excited about it, and I said "Damn, I want to make a documentary about it."

I always had a video camera with me at all the protests and the hip -hop shows, and I always wanted to do a documentary, so I figured this was the right time for it.


Did you have any formal training as a film maker when you began the project?
When I started filming, I had no formal training. When I was in high school, my mom had a high 8 camera and I just took it as my own. I would take it to all the protests and all the hip-hop shows, everyone that I saw. KRS-One, Nas, everyone that came to the Bay, I just filmed it.

I went to Cal (UC-Berkeley), and I took two video classes, and I was able to figure out the basic stuff from that. It wasn't until after the movie I went to NYU and got some formal training.

Did you get your masters in filmmaking?
Yeah, I got my masters at the school of the arts at NYU.

There was a fire at the old house while you were in post production?
Yeah, you heard about that?

Yeah.
That was actually during the editing phase. I was with some of my high school students at a retreat, and I got a call my brother, he said, "Yeah, the house burned down." My first question was "Are you alright," and he told me "Yeah, I had to go to the hospital for smoke inhalation."

So after I made sure that he was alright, you know what my second question was? It was like, "What's up with the film?" He said "It's done..."

They restored everything that was on the computer, so how I was editing was I had most of what was called A-roll, interviews and stuff. I didn't get to put in what they call the B-roll, the concert footage and stuff. So when you watch it, you're like, "I wish I could have seen more of the concert footage." Or at least that's what I tell myself when I watch it...

What was your goal with the DVD?
There were three main things. The first one was to show the rest of the world what was going on down there, or start the conversation between the international hip hop community about what Cuba had. I came back with some footage and people were really excited with it, so I figured that if I went back and did some more, I'd have something to work with...

A lot of us in the community, the hip-hop heads in the Bay, we were able to go to Cuba, that's how that conversation really started, and we just went from there.

The second reason was, the most I ever learned about myself was travelling outside of this country. A lot of folks in Cuba haven't had that chance, and watching yourself on a screen is a way of doing that.
A lot of the feedback I got was that "Man, it was great to see people doing it. It was great to see it right there on film." That was a major part of the success was because (the people in the film) loved everything, and they told me that themselves.

The third reason would be for myself, to prove to myself that I could do it. I knew at the time I was making Inventos that this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to make documentary films, and it's not easy, but I got it done. In the Inventos steelo, just making it happen with nothing.

Have you had a chance to go back since then?
We just came back from last summer's "Inventos Sankofa Tour" (sic). That's when we brought down the first CDJ's to give to a community center down there. It was cool. I just got to shake everyone's hand personally and got to give them a hug and say "Thank you for making this happen."

It took a long time to do that, because of the legalities of it. So to get the stuff to them, I had to get a crew of nine people to bring two bags of gifts each, because we can't send the stuff because of the embargo. So we handed a bunch of stuff out and it was great.

What have been the musical developments on the island since the film was released?
All of the people in my film became the leaders of the hip-hop movement out there. When people call on Cuba to be represented at hip-hop conferences in South America, it's usually folks from the film

They came back to NYC a second time and played at the Apollo Theatre with The Roots and Kanye West.

There's been so much development that have helped and hindered it . I say that because when people are hungry for what you have, they start preparing stuff for them, to please them. When people want something from you, you start doing that, rather than doing what comes naturally. Recently, with the investment of reggaeton, a lot of people have been doing the reggaeton thing. It's taken from the consciousness of the art as far as music that can form a social change.

What's the distribution deal you have in place?
You know how we did it at first, just pressing them up at the house. I had my boy Miguel Perez do the artwork. You know what the Bay taught me to do, sell them out the trunk.

Through that hustle, we got some interest, some deals were on the table. I felt a lot of them were exploitative, but then we got a deal with City Hall (Records). I liked it, and we got a national distribution, and it's been an amazing ride. I never thought it could have happened or would have happen, and it's happening.

What's your take on the international hip-hop consciousness? Are people in other countries drawn to the music or the sense of rebellion?
To me, hip-hop is just a reflection of society, and so it's not a coincidence that 50 Cent's 'Get Rich or Die Trying' is being pushed all over the world, because that's what America is pushing all over the world.

When we look at Cuba, what do they represent all over the world? They represent social consciousness. Everything from having a large literacy rate to universal health care to La Revolucion. And in that kind of environment, what is has produced is a revolutionary style of hip hop being represented all around the world.

Every place I've been, hip-hop represents itself differently, because the society and what they're going through. The reason it's hip hop doing that and not another genre is because hip hop has been the voice of the youth. And never before have I seen the youth have such a strong voice in society. Before hip-hop, where did we have a voice? This is the first time they're making the world listen. They're making society listen to them. Hip-hop has been that tool.

Industry question: How does one go about marketing their own DVD?
That's what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to bring the same hustle that Bay Area hip-hop did with CDs to DVDs. It's a lot of personal connections, being a part of the scene. I think if I wasn't a hip-hop head, I wouldn't have had this kind of exposure. If I wasn't an activist, I wouldn't have had this exposure.

I live in those two societies, that's how people know me. Just like you, you're a part of those scenes, and that's how we are able to link up for this interview for The Monterey Herald.

Your next project sounds pretty ambitious. Talk about that.
This is my baby right here. Man, I've been working on this one close to 8 years already. You're going to see these characters grow up not only into manhood, but their profession as hip-hop artists...

In Africa, they have what's called the hip-life movement, which derived from their form of music and culture called the hi-life movement and the hip-hop movement. What Africa is doing is amazing right now, because the rest of the world isn't paying attention to them. They're turning to themselves and they're becoming famous on their own continent.

Anything else you want to throw out there
Big up to the whole Clenched Fist Productions crew. Check out the all the new projects on www.clenchedfist production.com. And to all the revolutionaries out there, using your art or education to change the world, put your fist up and let's do it together.

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Immortal Technique in Watsonville

Watsonville is off the hook right about now.

Brown Berets have solidified their presence in the community, which is almos miraculous when you consider that the Brown Berets have been almost MIA over the past 15 years or so (maybe they've been in Watson this whole time and I didn't know). The Danza Azteca group White Hawk has been holding it down for some time now as well. There have also been punk rockeros in bunches, and recent protests against immigration reform and HR 4437 have brought hundreds of young activistas into action in the strawberry town.

I was bombarded with all of this energy when I arrived at the Watsonville Veterans Hall on Monday, to check out a workshop by hip-hop artist Immortal Technique. Now, I have to admit, I was really aware of only one Tech song going into the gig, the "Bin Laden" single with Mos Def that was produced by DJ Green Lantern. But I was very much aware of his hardcore political stance, as well as his status as one of the emerging Latino hip-hop artists from the East Coast. Knowing all that made his appearance in Watsonville, a farm town with a predominantly working class Mexicano community, all the more intriguing.

The Vets Hall was bustling with young energy on Monday afternoon, hip-hop electronica in full effect. Youngsters dressed in Shady Gear and skater shoes mingled with bald-headed cholos in Raiders jerseys. A cipher broke out on the front steps. I was impressed.

The event was organized by The Brown Berets, so I made sure I identified myself at the door because I know that most grass roots are skeptical of any media coverage. My suspicions were varified by a fair-skinned women wearing a skully and a shirt that said "liberation," with a picture of what looked like Angela Davis on the front.

"We're not allowing corporate media to cover the event," she informed me with a bubbly smile. She was really nice about hating on my profession. I was fine with it, so I put my notebook away. I didn't feel it was necessary to list my activista credentials or try to give the secret Chicano activista hand shake.

And though I don't have 94 percent memory retention like Truman Capote, I am still capable of 'membering stuff. Notes would have to be taken in the head.

Immortal Technique rolled up dressed like sort of futuristic Vato Loco swat team member,replete in black garb with a black utility vest. He seemed very appreciative of being there.

A week earlier, he had headlined a large show in Watts, which was billed as a building block for Brown and Black relations in the so-cal ghettos. By all accounts, the show was a success, and Tech mentioned it several times during his speech. His workshop, "Street Politics of the Rap Industry," was incredibly true to its name.

Tech laid it down straight up for the kiddies: the record industry is a joke. Record labels exist only to push what is hot at the moment. Any artist who doesn't recoup for the label ends up as a tax write-off. He warned that the record industry is designed to keep the artists starving, while the record execs eat all the honey.

"If you're going to be a puppet," he said bluntly," don't be surprised when someone shoves a hand up your ass."

His whole workshop was a fearless exercise in how to hustle right: if you want to be successful, you better be prepared "to sleep only 2-3 hours a day." You better be ready to roll up in a record store 15 deep and demand that they put your CD on the shelf. Ditto for Radio DJ's that are programmed to play the same 10 songs 48 times a day (twice an hour, every hour).

Tech stays indy for a reason: because he refuses to be one of those sore puppets.

The workshop wasn't without its lighter moments: when asking the group what "payola" was, a young graph writer responded "a hallucenogic drug you smoke." That was pretty funny (and that graph writer-dude looked like he may have taken peyote at least once in his life).
Tech also broached the subject of his prison term. At one point during his bid, he was supposed to get out on MLK's Birthday after serving a year (he didn't mention what for), but instead was locked in "the hole" for having contraband, which was an extra t-shirt and pair of pants. He also shared that his family had saved for him to go to school, and after a year away, the money they had saved for their son's education was used to fight for his freedom. Despite the obvious pain of that experience, he relayed that his term had helped him determine his life's direction.

It's sad that a systematic beat down has to be the catalyst for one man's revelation, but then again, how many freedom fighter's have been born from such injustice?

As the discussion wound down, he took questions from the crowd. One question, How can hip-hop lead to social change, was met with an interesting answer.

"Don't expect any rapper to be a leader," he deadpanned. "The rap industry is meant to make money... At the end of the day, a rapper is just an individual..."

And he's certainly right. One cannot look to hip-hop artists for social change given the genre's sometimes counter-revolutionary imagery (violence, materialism, excess, mysogany).

But it can help spark the dialogue that leads to revolutionary thought. Especially in an unassuming place like Watsonville, where small town pride and a conscious Chicano activista community have transformed into a hotbed for cultural awareness and empowerment.

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RIP: Proof of D-12

A sad day in hip-hop. Here's the AP news story on the death of rapper Proof, a member of Eminem's group D-12:

Rapper Proof killed in Detroit nightclub shooting

By TOM KRISHER
Associated Press Writer

DETROIT (AP) - Proof, a member of rap group D12 and a close friend of Eminem, was shot to death early Tuesday at a nightclub along Eight Mile, the road made famous by the 2002 film that starred Eminem and in which Proof had a bit part.
The death of Proof - real name Deshaun Holton - was confirmed by Dennis Dennehy, the publicist for D12's label, Interscope Records, as well as by Detroit police spokesman James Tate.
"Memorial service arrangements are still being made, and his friends and family would appreciate privacy during this difficult time," Dennehy said in a statement.
Eminem and Proof, 32, seldom were seen in public without each other. Proof was the best man at Eminem's wedding in January, and they have been close friends since before Eminem became a superstar.
The music video for the Eminem song "Like Toy Soldiers" shows Eminem pacing a hospital hallway as doctors try to revive Proof, who has been shot. Later, Eminem attends Proof's funeral as the song's lyrics lament the escalation in violence between rappers.
It was Proof's idea to form D12, a six-member Detroit-based rap group that counts Eminem among its members.
D12 has been around since the mid-1990s, when the members met at Detroit's Hip-Hop Shop, a clothing store by day/hip-hop club by night.
Proof's family members gathered at a home on Detroit's northwest side after hearing the news of his death. The residential street in front of the two-story home was lined with vehicles, and people hugged each other on the sidewalk.
Proof was shot inside a small bar in a strip of businesses along Eight Mile, which is the dividing line between Detroit and its northern suburbs. Tate said two people were shot in the head - one fatally. He said an argument at the C.C.C. nightclub escalated into gunshots.
The other victim - a 35-year-old man - was listed in critical condition, Tate said.
Wende Berry, a spokeswoman for St. John Health System, said Holton was dead on arrival at St. John Conner Creek, an outpatient treatment facility. Berry confirmed that he had a gunshot wound.
Police said shots were fired inside the bar around 4:30 a.m. By the time officers arrived, both of the injured men had been taken from the bar in private vehicles, Tate said.
Evidence technicians and detectives remained inside the bar Tuesday morning. A spot of blood was on the street in front of the tavern, and police marked shell casings in a parking lot across the street.
Patrol officers said the bar is a frequent source of problems on the city's east side. Tate said police have taken 18 incident reports there since 1996. The latest was a vice raid in December in which six tickets were issued, most involving minors possessing or drinking alcohol.
The bar, he said, was legal, but was operating outside of its licensed hours.
Another member of Eminem's inner circle - rapper Obie Trice - was shot while driving on a Detroit-area highway in December.

...

This is the second death to rock the Detroit hip-hop scene in less than two months. In February, underground producer James "Jay Dee/J-Dilla" succumbed to a bout with a rare blood disease. Now, the violent end to an MC who many in the "D" claim as an architect for the city's scene sucker punches the hip-hop nation.

And it's a shame that the mainstream media will view this as just another dead rapper, a tragic cliche in a musical genre full of tragic cliches. Any talk of senseless violence and glorification of an excessive lifestyle found within Proof's lyrics is sure to come up as evidence that he fostered this sort of fate. Bullshit. It ain't even like that.

I'mma keep this short because I just don't know if there is anything to add to this. Life is too short, folks. Don't ever take it for granted.

paz

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"ATL" Movie Review

"Down South you grow up quick, especially in the ATL."

And thus the premise for rapper T.I.'s movie "ATL" is laid out in the movies opening moments, along with a montage of southern living: country landscapes, worn houses, rib shacks, and the sound of Ray Charles cooing "Georgia" over a hip-hop beat.

The movie's release coincided with T.I.'s new album, "King," which was no coincidence. T.I. is primed to be a superstar, evidenced by his album's number one showing on the pop charts, and the movie's strong no. 3 ranking in box office sales. T.I. is now worthy of wearing the crown as "King of the South." And he makes it look easy.

The movie itself is a coming of age tale of two brothers, Rashad (played by TI) and Ant. The pair live with their uncle George (the parents were killed in a car accident) in Mechanicsville, an Atlanta community that is very working class. The presence of drugs, violence and despair loom in the background, but they don't dominate the movie. That' helps the flick avoid the whole "'hood movie syndrome."

This movie is more "American Graffiti" than "Menace II Society," and TI carries himself with the same angst and wide-eyed bewilderment that Richard Dreyfuss did more than 30 years ago in "Graffiti."

Rashad is a young man longing for some direction in his life. He dotes over his younger, scattershot brother Ant by helping him learn to be a man, but Rashad is hard pressed to figure that out for himself. He assumes the responsibility of role model that their uncle seems to duck, and helps run the cleaning business that he inherited when his parents passed away.

Rashad's crew is another revelation: no drug dealers, gangsters or hustlers among them, a welcome relief in an urban drama. Instead, we get a preppy braniac who keeps it real in the hood, an aloof miscreant/high school flunky who does gold "grills" on the side, and a doughy food worker from the east coast who can't find a job he likes.

And out of this ragtag bunch we get characters who don't appear headed for imminent doom (except Ant, who chooses to sell weed as a side vocation and gets into it with the local kingpin). And they all congregate at the most unlikely of spots: the roller rink, where Rashad and his crew battle it out on skates with rival crews. It's a joy to watch a movie with young people of color depicted simply as young people, period. Here are a few of my highlights:

- Thick country accents abound, which brought instant smiles. A school teacher saying "Thanks ya, Jee-zuss" and a girl complaining "My mouth is not that BEEG" were special treats.

- An east coast versus down south feud erupts when the homies debate regional slang. A NYC homie asks "Why you gotta end everything with shorty (pronounced "shaw-dee") while his southern brother asks "Why you end everything with son." They both make good points.

- I learned two great phrases: "(She got a) ass fatter than a swamp possum with mumps," and "You open like a can of pigs feet." The trick for me now is to use them in a regular conversation.

- The movie is a great entry point for southern culture, particularly the roller skate culture. I didn't see that bow wow movie "Roll Bounce," but that movie looked very lame. "ATL" made skating look cool.

- Rapper Big Boi of Outkast shows up as a germaphobe dope dealer (I forgot to write his character's name down). He shows up in an Escalade on some ridiculous 28-inch rims. And that is the reason you never hear about street dope dealers retiring to the Bahamas, they don't know how invest their money properly.

-Big Boi has two of the best lines in the movie: after beating his blood cousin who shorted him on some drug money, he looks him dead in the eye and says "You bet not tell my momma." Later, when a rival throws money in his face, he dead pans "You just hit me in my damn mouth with some money." Classic.

- T.I. is the truth. It's so hard for a non-actor to carry a movie, but he more than manages by not only going against type from his rap persona, but flipping the same scowling on the surface mannerism to convey Rashad's depth of character. 50 Cent could take some acting lessons from T.I.

- The number one rule in skating: Don't Fall. You just end up looking like an ass.

- Keith David, one of the scariest looking dudes in Hollywood, shows up as an uppity rich guy who turned his back on the ghetto. Even in that role, he looks like he would just kick my ass.

- Big Rube of the Dungeon Family shows up! Well, his voice does, at least, in the form of an overdub during a scene in the movie. Big Rube should be in a lot more movies.

- The trap house (dope house) in the movie looks like a cross between a crack house and a cult compound. It's pretty creepy looking.

- One thing I might do is rent the movie on DVD when it comes out, and play a drinking game based on rapper cameos. Every time a rapper makes a cameo (and there are a bunch, including Bone Crusher, Big Gipp, Jazze Pha) you gotta take a drink.

- Minnie Ripperton's "Let Me Know" is a great song. That's all I gotta say.

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Q & A Interview: Ms. Veronica

Me and Ms. Veronica go way back. We're tight like that.

Okay, so I'm lying. I only met the girl last fall, after her fabulous photo spread for Eye Candy in XXL magazine. The magazine's center-fold shoot is the hip-hop equivelant of the Playmate of the Month (minus the nekkidness).

Last year, the 2000 North Salinas High School grad made her splash as one of the video hotties in Kanye West's "Gold Digger" clip (she's the one in the black teddy under the banner "Vixen"). She's also been one of the Bay Area's most visible lobbyists, bigging up her Yay Area bretheren at every opportunity she gets.

The Herald did a huge feature story that I penned, and we got calls from folks both praising the piece ("It's about time some flavor was in your paper" read one e-mail) and bemoaning it (a couple of people threatened to cancel their subscription because they thought images of her from the video were demeaning to women).

But Ms. Veronica is the ultimate hustler, a true hard-worker who manages high-profile modeling gigs and a down-to-earth close-knit family background at once. "The Beat" managed to touch base with ya girl after she just flew in from a shoot in Miami, where she was steady on the grind, as always.

How are you doing?
I'm great. I'm still in bed. I have three days off, so that's good.

What's new and exciting with you?
I've been pretty much touring right now. I've been gone for a while, and I've been working on a TV show called Latin Fever. It's like Extra and Entertainment Tonight, with less gossip and a little more urban, with black and Latino celebrities.
So far, we've done interviews with (pro boxer) Bernard Hopkins, Mr. Cartoon, he's like the tattoo artist to the stars. We interviewed Terrance Howard, who was nominated for an Academy Award.
We do Snoop and Twista this weekend. We're interviewing fashion designers too. We have Karl Kani and Adam Hardy, whose clothes are very popular right now
The show starts at the end of April, so check your local listings. It'll be nationwide.

Are you doing the interviews yourself?
Yeah, I'm doing the interviews

What's that like for you?
It's fun. You get to meet a lot of people. I love the camera and I love my job.
I'm also working with a new company, NBK entertainmet/It Factor. It's run by Jeff Robinson's company. He's Alicia Keys manager... I just got back from Miami with them. We hosted a huge party. Usher came, Cristina Millian, lots of athletes, DJ Clue showed up. A lot of celebrities, it was really fun.
We had a photo shoot at Ty Law's mansion in Maimi. It was big. (Robinson) is such a nice guy. I have never worked with such a great company before.

For our readers, can you describe how you get paid? Do you get money from appearance fees? Do you get paid by the hour or per appearance?
Definitely appearance fees, and that helps. It's also fun, because during the (NBA) All-Star game, I hosted a few parties and I made a few thousand dollars just for partying! I got there and did some shopping and I got to come home with a few thousand dollars for it. And they paid for my planet ticket and my hotel and took care of me.
A year ago, I would have had to have paid for my own ticket. So this year, I got to spend some time shopping and had some fun.
Basically we're getting paid to be there. Appearance fees are big.
I haven't been working on videos, because I've been working on the show. But I did a magazine shoot for OYE, Open Your Eyes magazine. That was big.

Do you get paid per day when you do a magazine shoot?
Some of them are promotion, some of them you get an editorial fee. That's what it's called.

When we last talked, you said you were in a video with Rhymefest. Will that be released anytime soon?
That's released. It's me and Kanye West and Rhymefest. It's the funniest video I've done. It's also the quickest, because that was done in front of a green screen in one day.

I've made a big deal of the Hyphy movimiento in a lot of my recent pieces. What's your take on it right now, since you're repping The Bay so hard?
I love the Bay Area. I definitely make sure I support the Bay. I got 40's album, I got Balance's album... I push the Hyphy movement a lot. I make sure every magazine I'm in I push the Hyphy movement. Celebrities see me and they ask me "What's the Hyphy?"
I get messages from big celebrities like 'What's the Hyphy? What's a scraper? What are stunner shades?' I just laugh...
Everywhere I go, a lot of celebrities call me Ms. Hyphy. I know the Hyphy movement is going to blow up real soon. I get it out there with mainstream celebrities. That way, when I do go to a video shoot or an interview and someone is talking about Hyphy, they can be like "That's what Veronica is talking about."
Even in my interviews for the show. I always ask how do you feel about the Bay Area, and theyre' like,"Yeah, E-40 is cool,' but then they're like "What does that have to do with what we're talking about."

What's the most difficult thing you've encountered during your new gig as a show host?
What's hard is I might talk to someone in G-Unit one day and then someone in Black Wallstreet the next day and it's hard. They talk about each other and I'm like,'Wait a minute.' I don't want to make anyone mad or get in the middle of these rapper beefs.
What I'm worrried about is one day they'll talk about somebody that I actually know. That would suck.

Is it your impression that some of these guys are extra sensitive?
Yeah, I guess, I mean, I think it would be a lot stronger if everyone just stuck together... Some people just want attention and then some people have nothing else but to talk about somebody else. That's all they got.
Some people have nothing going for them, and so they decide to talk about somebody else, and then it doesn't work for them and what sucks is that it gets out of hand and people end up dying.
I know Busta Rhymes had a video shoot and his bodyguard got killed. I think it's nonsense, but the rumor was that it was somebody who was talking about somebody else. That's how the guy ended up getting killed.
I think it's even worse in the Bay Area. When Bay artists talk about other Bay artists but theyre' not even on a big level yet. It's like, you guys haven't even started yet, there's no reason for it.
At the same time, I think a lot of rappers are scared for The Bay to come up. It's something different from what they're doing, and it scares them. They know if it gets big, its so different that its going to wipe out what they got going.

What are you listening to/feeling right now?
E-40. That's what i've been listening to for the last few. The Federation's new album is crazy! Balance's new album is good, I actually got to listen to it before it came out. I got it a month ago. As far as the Salinas/Monterey area, people are going to love that album.
It's cool, when I get to listen to other peoples albums beforehand, because I know whether it's going to suck or not or whether it's going to be good.

Goldie from The Federation said something that I thought was funny. He said that you were cool because you would date "an average looking dude." Can you tell me what he meant by that?
Of course, being in the industry you get asked out by a lot of celebrities and athletes all the time. It's like a big college, but it's so small at the same time because you keep seeing them all over the place, so they ask you out a lot.
I would rather just date an average guy, where it's not going to be all crazy, where I'm in New York and you're in Texas. I would rather date an average guy who is going to be more laid back... But I can definitely say, right now I'm very single.

Well, I'm sure our male readers will be glad to hear that. Now, for a more serious question: Are you looking for any writers for your show?
Ummm, I'm not too sure (pause) I'm not too involved with the technical stuff.. I don't know. But if we are, I will definitely throw you in there.

I'm just playing... Anything else you want to throw out there?
I just feel really blessed, and I thank god every chance I get. I'll thank him three times a day. I'm just blessed and thankful for everything.

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Steel Pulse Live in Santa Cruz

Steel Pulse's Thursday night show in Santa Cruz was too short.

I'm not talking about the Oakland rapper. I'm talking about the fact that they were on for maybe an hour and a half, tops, and though they managed to make it a strong hour and a half, a legendary band such as theirs simply can't run through their extensive catalogue with that type of time constraint.

And I'm not complaining at all about their performance. These legends have the tools to take any reggae fan to school. And their following is so strong that everyone in the crowd seemed to sing along to every selection.

And for full disclosure, I did get to the show a bit late, and caught them right before they got into one of my all-time favorite songs, "Blues Dance Raid." So I missed them playing "Steppin' Out," (which, judging from past performances I've seen, is usually their opening number), "Your House," and the ultimate loss, "Worth His Weight in Gold."

Yes, I could kick myself, but for all I know, they might not have even played those songs.

Still, the chance to see Steel Pulse is always one worth taking. Hearing the familiar tune of a song as beautiful as "Ravers," with it's nonsensical lyrics (Whoops, upside ya head... Boogie to ze music..."), takes me back to when I first discovered reggae music as a wanna-be cholo at Alisal High School. Freshman year, when I fell in love with the irie rhythms that haunt me to this day oh so right.

And watching the band perform so effortlessly was just as inspiring. The lead singer had a dread so thick, it hung on his back like a sling of arrows. I swear, that thing was so lumbering that dude could have claimed it as a dependent on his taxes.

The aging keyboardist was just as cool, too. With streaks of grey in his shaggy beard, he still rocked a camouflage outfit and matching baseball cap, which covered a doo-rag. I asked my girl if I could be so cool as to pull off that look in my mid-50s. She said yes, but I think she was just being nice, because I know I'm not that cool.

And even though I may have missed some of my favorites (or maybe not) I still got to hear classics like "Chant a Psalm," which was performed semi-acoustic. The slower pace and timbale drums took the crowd to church, and I testified right along with them.

And the band got their politico on as well. Addressing the recent protests in response to harsh immigration reform across the nation, the lead singer challenged the government's definition of an "Illegal Immigrant."

"If that's the case, the entire damn population of America is illegal," he said. "Except the Native Americans..."

They ended the show with "Roller Skates," which was the song that introduced me to them as a youngster. And then they were gone before 11 p.m. And that one old reggae music promoter whose been at every single reggae concert I've ever been to in my life did everything but apologize to the crowd for the abrupt departure. Even the band looked somewhat confused about the short exit, but the rumor around the building was that the music had to be cut off at 11 p.m., per some sort of city ordinance.

Now, I know that performers always want to leave their audiences wanting more. But when the groove is that solid, it's almost a crime to cut it off so quickly. Life is too short to have to endure such disappointment.

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Interview: M-1 of dead prez

I grew up in the era of Public Enemy.

In high school, when most everyone else was listening to bass music or oldies or freestyle, I bumped "Fear of a Black Planet" religiously, and wore t-shirts with the famous silhouette of a b-boy, arms crossed, standing defiantly in the eye of a sniper target.

That was my punk rock. That was my rebellion with a cause.

And that was 15 years ago, which in hip-hop, is almost like the dark ages. Today, rap music (or what passes for mainstream, at least) is nothing like the boot stomping, foot-to-the-rear-end-of-the-man razor's edge that PE represented. It's as if political rap never existed.

Luckily, folks like dead prez have not forgotten those times. And one half of the rap group, M-1, has taken it upon himself to make sure that the general public knows that political rap still exists. Thank goodness for that.

M-1 took some time to talk to "The Beat" after his tour stop Saturday night in Santa Cruz. Currently on tour with Ghostface, M-1 has an album out, "Confidential," that is available at your local record store. Cop that joint: the revolution needs to be subsidized by the people.

What's up, thanks for taking to time to talk to "The Beat."
Naw, naw, naw, it's okay. That's what I do.

So what's up with the new album? Why did you decide to do a solo?
The opportunity, more than anything. I was just really wanting to see more revolutionary culture out here in the world, and it's not represented, in my opinion. Just observing the situation that dead prez is in, in the world, I felt like it was a change for people, from what they would normally expect from dp. But I felt it was also a way to express who I am. You might not even know the real me. You might know dp, but it's a chance for people to get to know me.


Can we expect a dead prez album anytime soon?
Oh yeah, of course. You can expect an album, definitely. The new dp album well be out June, July, August. I don't know, but you
can look out for it. Me and stic.man, we working on it right now.

I was personally confused by your group's origins. You claim Brooklyn, but are you originally from the south?
I live in Brooklyn. I started out in North Carolina, and my partner is from Tallahassee, Florida, and that's where we met. I was in college at that point. But i do have roots in NC.

Are you in Cali right now?
I'm in LA, as we speak.

Have you been paying any attention to the walkouts and protests in Cali and across the nation this past weekend?
You mean around the immigrant protests.

Yes.
I've heard about it, but I haven't been in it or witnessed it or been involved. I'm watching it as it happens.

Just to bring you up to speed, basically, a lot of Mexican and Latino activists have banded together to protest immigration reform that could include the felony criminalization of undocumented immigrants for simply being in this country.
Wow. That's real.

For us in Cali, it's kind of a repeat of Proposition 187, the anti-immigration law that passed in 1994 that made it illegal for undocumented immigrants to receive social services.
Word. I know about Prop. 187. We did a concert for prop. 187 in Oakland, right on the steps of city hall.

One of the things I like about you guys is your constant props to Black and Brown. Can you elaborate on the similarities in social struggle and consciousness between the two groups.
We are all that there is on the planet and we are the oppressed masses. Everywhere you look, you see us making things happen, and it's for a reason...
Without us, there would be almost no way to turn their natural resources into goods and services, without who we are, without the work that we do. The unity between black and brown is imperative to our civilization at the end of the day...
I'm not running around, yelling "Ya Basta," trying to romanticize something. I try to tell it as a revolutionary slogan. I don' t want people to think I'm romanticizing Mexico, or the image of that land and those people. I want people to know that this is something we need now
One of the most important meetings of our time, for black and brown, was between (Black Panther leader) Fred Hampton Sr. and Cha Cha Jimenez (sic)... After they met in prison, Cha Cha formed the Young Lords Party (a New York organization that was the Puerto Rican equivalent of the Black Panthers or the Brown Berets) and of course, Fred went on to do his thing.

You brought out Fred Hampton Jr. to give a speech during the "Dave Chappele's Block Party" film. How did that union come about?
Fred is everywhere right now. This is a political animal, this guy. When you talk about what he has to bring to the table, it's a lot, his history and everything.
I just did what history told me to do. My relationship with him was the work i did on the Campaign to Free Fred Hampton Jr. This was when he was apolitical prisoner from 1991 to 2001...
When he was free from behind enemy lines, we decided to work together. I see him as an ally. He's developed a organization called the Prisons of Consciousness Committee, which I claim to be a representative for because of him. He's a fantastic organizer and he's a leader.

I always ask an industry insider question when I do Q&A's, to give folks insight into the business aspect. Your question is: At this point in your career, do you make more money from CD sales, or from tickets and merch sales on tour?
I say, at this point in my career, as M-1 going around touring, I probably get more money from the record sales. As dead prez touring, I get much more money touring than as far as royalties from dead prez. But with the way my album deal was structured where I get more of a take of the profits, I'm trying to do it all and get more of a take.

Where do you think you and your group see yourselves in the pantheon of political rappers like Public Enemy or X-Clan. Are you coming along those lines, or are you trying to carve out a different identity for yourself, like a new coming of political rap?
I don't regard myself as a new revolutionary coming at all because it's in the process...The reason why revolutionary hip hop has not been the most important thing in the world is because hip hop is controlled by the industrial corporate interests. And they don't want to recognize the revolutionary work that some of it's most important artists contributed...
I look at Public Enemy, they had a lot of revolutionary work. Tupac had some very revolutionary work, which a lot of people don't' recognize. I just follow it down that line.

Have you seen the documentary "Inventos" by Eli Fauntauzzi?
Yeah, my brother Eli. Inventos.

What are your thoughts on the hip-hop movimiento going on in Cuba and South America in general?
Man, that was an experience that took me to another level in my career. I became more of an international African political animal. Just for me to watch the peoples process of growth, watch the development , that was totally enlightening to me. I can't say enough about Cuba.

It sounds like it was a pretty profound experience for you
I went three times, and I went once by myself. My partner stic didn't see the ramifications of how important it was at first. But when we went down there and saw the movement, we both realized how big it is...
I recently went to Venezuela, and Hugo Chavez, he's the truth. That's all I can say man. Hugo Chavez is the truth.

Is there anything else you want to throw out there or plug
I just want to say that the album "Confidential" represents M-1's new effort to embrace revolutionary culture. This is an RBG (Revolutionary But Gangsta) affiliated project, and I just want to let people know that we're not going nowhere. Even if we're not on the TV screen, not up in the videos, we're not going nowhere. We're right here, we're organizing and we're alright.

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