Tuesday, March 8, 2011

How Can Hip Hop Save the World? Lessons from a Seattle Youth Service Scandal

On March 3rd, I was invited to speak at an intimate panel at Seattle University called "How Can Hip Hop Save the World?" The gathering, brought together by SU's Mary Pauline Diaz, featured Mako Fitts, Ready C from my crew Alpha P, and myself, as well as about 10 student participants. I didn't know what to expect, but I was inspired by the topic, ensuing conversation, and current events to write this article up.

(Photo: Kool Herc, founder of Hip Hop, currently fighting the American healthcare system.)

Before addressing how Hip Hop can save the world, you first have to determine whether it can, and what "Hip Hop" means to begin with. Now although we could debate cultural memory, nommo, and collective experience all day, the truth is that the only thing that brings most of us together under the umbrella of "Hip Hop" is that we, as artists, engage in the artistic practices deemed by Afrika Bambaataa to be the elements of Hip Hop: bboy/girling, emceeing, graffiti, Djing, beat-making, etc. Of course cultural production in Hip Hop is not just limited to that, it also includes secondary extensions of this. For example, independent media/websites/shows such as Seaspot, Flava News, Coolout Network, Untappedmuzik, All Power to the Positive, Seattle Hip Hop Street Fights, Street Sounds, Boombox FM, She Ready Radio, and Zulu Radio are included here as well as bloggers like those at Raindrophustla, Chul Gugich from 206up, Hugh from Blogsiswatching.com, and Miss Casey Carter, writers like Marian Liu and Jonathan Cunningham, even online forum mafiosos like the habitue of 206Proof are Hip Hop cultural producers. Promoters/venues/functions are also hugely important to Hip Hop cultural production (think Dope Emporium, UmojaFest, Obese Productions, an institution like Stop Biting at Lofi (shouts to Introcut), or Ladies First, formally at Hidmo, etc.) Extending even farther out, we can include fashion (think Mint Factory Clothing or CrisisNW Gear), photography (like Ruf Top Productions, and Jennifer Mary), and a plethora of others. Through this lens, Hip Hop CREATES communities around these artistic practices and acts of cultural production. The question then shifts from "Can Hip Hop save the world?" to "Can communities save the world?" and of course, the answer here is yes. But what role does Hip Hop have in this?

As an artist, and like a lot of artists and cultural producers out here in the Northwest Hip Hop scene, I believe in community accountability to the youth. We do not just understand and create art about issues of gentrification, poverty/job creation, educational reform, healthcare, and youth violence prevention, we organize and mobilize for positive changes within our spheres of influence around these issues, for their benefit. I've worked with organizations who turn crack houses into community centers and throw Hip Hop Leadership Conferences (Seattle Hip Hop Youth Council & Umojafest P.E.A.C.E. Center), organizations who connect artists with schools, play cafeterias and gymnasiums, and organize city-wide Youth Summits (206 Zulu), collectives who throw multi-day free all-ages Hip Hop festivals with youth showcases (Dope Emporium), business owners who turn their restaurants into activists hubs and performance spaces, who launch community empowerment projects (Hidmo), and I've been blessed to connect with other collectives, organizations, and crews in cities across the country who share the same priorities and mission in this work. (Shouts to DeBug in San Jose, W.I.T in Kentucky, J.U.I.C.E and GorillaMic in Los Angeles, IMAN & Coalition to Protect Public Housing in Chicago, B Girl Be in Minneapolis, W.E.A.P in Oakland, and all trues in the PPEHRC, UZN, HHC networks). There's power in this groundswell.

Through my travels, connecting with "Hip Hop" communities across the country, I've also learned that the national policies and initiatives enacted locally on a state, county, & city level have created common struggles & challenges for us. Broadening our perspective on these issues to include the struggles of communities outside our scene allows us to see how these issues manifest in different cities, and facilitates better understanding on how we can enact change in Seattle. One example of this is HUD Block Grants that wiped out public housing in virtually every urban community across the country, shrouding the reality of gentrification and urban economic displacement under the guise of "private-public partnerships". Another very recent example is the Youth Violence Prevention Initiative (YVPI). Most don't know that at the time this was launched in Seattle two years ago, former Mayor Nickels was the President of the National Council of Mayors, and it's not a stretch to say his decision to entrust the Seattle Urban League with a no-bid multi-million dollar grant for executing the project locally was in no small part due to the "New Deal" partnership for the Conference of Mayors and the National Urban League announced at their centennial celebration.

Two years ago, at the time this happened, I was working with Umojafest P.E.A.C.E Center, Mother's Outreach Movement, Hip Hop Congress, and a collective of over 20 other local Hip Hop and youth advocacy organizations in the Unite for Youth Coalition, who were very much in the trenches of youth violence prevention work. The coalition members were also very concerned with the city's move to hand these desperately needed funds over to the Urban League, an organization with questionable leadership, a history of unsavory community appropriation, and virtually no track record of notable violence prevention work. Plus at the same time, the city of Seattle was proposing to build a $110 million dollar jail, and the new Seattle School District Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson (who was just fired March 3rd by the school board over the recent scandal) was proposing to shut down six schools. We organized, and began contacting people in the mayor's office, on the school board, and in the Urban League, and our concern only grew. As community organizers and youth service workers, we were uncomfortable with 1) the disconnect of these conversations 2) the Seattle School District's questionable management of public funds and their inability to keep schools open 3) the lack of transparency, really the shroud of secrecy over the Urban League's plans for the violence prevention money. Two years ago, we staged demonstrations, put out articles on the issue, and did our best to engage our communities in the conversation, for the interest of the youth. Were we successful in raising awareness and asking questions? Yes. Were we able to prevent the scandalous debacle that ensued? No.

Today, two years later, after at least four schools are closed, the Seattle Times front page is riddled with stories about the Seattle School District's financial scandal, how over a million dollars was handed over to vendors that never did anything but get the money, and how the single largest recipient of that money was the Seattle Urban League. This all came out after the Urban League quietly lost the YVPI contract in January, after they spent $900,000 with little to show for it. (Here's the city's performance evaluation for the larger half of that amount). I'd be interested to hear how this played out in other cities.

Despite all this, ours was not a lost battle. Quite the contrary, the pressure and spotlight put on Former Mayor Nickels and his administration came right before elections season. Hip Hop ran its own candidate, Wyking Garrett, for the purposes of putting these and other critical issues on the table, and coalitions of urban youth organizations like the Young Voter's League were hosting their own candidate forums at which Nickels was virtually absent. Although Wyking lost in primaries, the face time we bought with other candidates won us a huge platform to educate others on what was going on in the community, and it was out of these conversations that Mayor McGinn surfaced as a favored pick among young voters. It is the presence of this new mayor which has eventually lead to the space for transparency in the YVPI, as well as for new leadership to emerge from the community. We should not forget or downplay this victory, even if it did take some time, but we should also strive to mobilize quicker, stronger, and more effectively next time by taking key lessons from what went down in our own backyard:

1) Be proactive in creating and/or contributing to the growth of institutional alternatives to the status quo. (Instead of trying to use the master's tools to dismantle the plantation. This applies to the dying music industry & corporate media model as well as activism and youth service.)

2) Leverage the political process by running our own Hip Hop candidates who will put our issues and interests into the forefront. (Instead of raking up election year funding by remaining operatives for existing political parties.)

3) Keep building Hip Hop as an effective medium for community education and mobilization.
(Think unionizing teaching artists and Hip Hop youth service workers, building coalitions between our businesses, collectives, and organizations, and creating "rapid response" networks on youth policy issues among our independent media outlets.)

Hip Hop is a vast & powerful network. We should not shy away from being active in changing the world from the ground up. The above is only one example of the small atrocities committed daily, and the role our community of cultural producers can and needs to play in intervening and recreating. Even here in our seemingly isolated, burgeoning scene, we are a part of a larger movement with larger aspirations, and there are many reminders of this. (Take our comrades in the Hip Hop communities of North Africa for example). There's a lot of answers to the question "How Can Hip Hop Save the World?", but the most important answer is in the alignment of all our efforts and the clarity of our collective vision.

Julie C is a teacher, cultural advocate, and emcee. Her upcoming E.P Sliding Scale is dropping May 2011 from the indy label B Girl Media. Email her at Juliec@hiphopcongress.com, and comment on this story and others at www.Julie-C.com.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

The Novel of Feb. 2011

Y'all are going to be mad at the length of the February report, but don't trip. Just remember my solo E.P. is dropping in May, breeze through all the paragraphs below, check out all the artists you haven't heard, scan write-ups of events you might have missed, revel in your shout out, leave a comment, and CONNECT WITH EACH OTHER. Beyond the all the exciting events that went down in the 206 and 425 this month, I was able to spend the last week of February in LA working with B Girl and networking with some very talented, amazing folks, so do take advantage, and let's bridge this I-5 gap a little bit. I'm so appreciative of the people I know, those I've had the pleasure to meet for the first time this month, and the events and shows I've been blessed to participate in, so since I love my life so much, and you should love yours too, here's the theme-video of the month, the BRAND NEW OFFICIAL Black Stax's "I Love My Life" Now for your regularly scheduled review of February, 2011:

Saturday the 5th, I swung down to the Theorem at Electric Tea Garden to watch live produced sets from OC Notes, and Dead Noise with DJ Sho Nuph, and WD40, murdering the turntables. I don't make it to enough non-emcee events, and this night was a definite reminder why I should. HEAT.

I also finally got to connect with my girl, Monica Crystal, a lovely, talented vocalist, and some of the musicians in her band at a jam session way out in Mill Creek. The guitarist/bassist Richie and the other emcee there, Rhino, have a band called Corner State, definitely worth the check out, these cats are dope. Be on the look out for upcoming collabs between Miss Crystal's band, Empress Omni, and me, because we will be lighting up a stage together near you real, real soon.

February 10th marked my very first Everett show at Shotzies up north. I wanna give a super big shout to G Red for getting me out of the Seattle city limits for this one, which was a nice change of scenery, as well as to my girl Sista Hailstorm for rocking with me. We shared the bill with Everett's Royal-T, J Black, Mr. Benjamin, Sir Sleepy, Cali's Hollywood, hosted by James. Also got to connect with DJ Nanino, from Boombox 90.7fm (he invited me to cohost an all female spotlight show with him, so be on the lookout for that in a few weeks!), as well as Madshroom, Corndog, and Wizdum from Black Magic Noize.

On February 13th, Hustle Feet First and Bump Local presented the well-anticipated throwback Valentine's Skate Party, masterminded by Jerm Dee and Zach the Barber, and it was HISTORICAL. A big yellow bus swooped up some of Seattle's finest artists and tastemakers from Lofi, including Rufio, Meli from Obese Productions, Kitty Wu, Cassandra, Haj, O.C Notes, Saqqara, Feven, Larue, King Khazm, Joc, Didit, Kylie, Beloved1, BBoy Jonathan from BYC, Jerz, Mookie, Anwar, and more, and took us to Auburn Skate Connection where we all tried to keep our balance to the tunes of DJ Topspin and 100Proof. The ride there was craaackking, with beatboxin' and three separate cyphers all the way south, and will probably remain one of my fondest Seattle Hip Hop memories for a long, long time! The whole night was truly a feat of genuine community-building, unity, and fun. Watch out for the next installment of this event, as it is sure to catch on and grow. I've already been hearing rumors that part two is in the planning stages.

On February 17th, we headed out to West Seattle for One Time for Your Mind at the Skylark. This show, organized by Page One, featured Kay Bee (check his new video for the track "Do What You Feel" here!), Lojique, Greg & Jerome, Saturday Morning Cartoon, and myself, ft. Hailstorm, Jerm D, Korvus Blackbird, and Bandanaz, as well as Graves 33, and the infinitely fantastic DJ SeaBefore aka "Captain Save a Show". We turned this little venue out that night, so I wanna send super big shouts to everyone who came through a supported us, including Jamal Revels, Jewelz Hunter, Third Eye Bling, Neebor, Cassandra, Dione from the Multimedia Center, the homies from Honozulu, and everyone else. It was a blast! Also, speaking of Saturday Morning Cartoon, remember that collabo cut featuring myself called "Something Brand Nu" I debuted in last month's review? Check out this video of the track, with animation by David Toledo.

That weekend, beginning on Friday the 18th, 206 Zulu's 7th Anniversary was in full effect! The celebration kicked off with an all-day youth summit at Vera project, which brought over 100 high schoolers from different schools in the area together to learn, create, and connect over Hip Hop Culture. I was blessed to be asked to rock a few tracks and speak to the youth, along with Jus Moni, Massiah, Star, Suntonio Bandanaz, Massive Monkees, Big World Breaks, and more. It was super live. That evening, I performed with Bandanaz, along with Neema, Endrwon from Portland, and Massiah, just MINUTES before the legendary Percee P took the stage at Washington Hall! All this was going down as the BBoys and Girls lit up the floor beneath us, and the graff writers tore up the canvas out front. Big ups to 206Zulu for making our city shine as always.

That night was also Larue's going away bash at Chop Suey, and what a night that was! DJ Intylekt (check out his new blog by clicking the link), DJ Swervewon, Yirim Seck, Black Stax, and the man of the hour himself joined forces to bring Seattle a farewell show to remember! The vibe was sexy, sophisticated, and grown, as some of the town's most seasoned artists delivered a potent and powerful showcase to a packed house. Larue sent himself off in style, and although he will be missed as he packs up and heads to Florida, we can't be too sad because we know no one ever leaves the young town for long!

The Los Angeles Section:

While in LA, B-Girl and I caught up with the Hip Hop Congress homie DLabrie who was out and about promoting his new mixtape "Operation Upgrade Vol 2" dropping free this month (www.DLabrie.com) and his debut album MR NETW3RK dropping 5/31. He was hitting the All Star Weekend industry parties and as always running late, but we got our deep dish on. If you don't know Labrie, you will soon, cause if he's not currently at or leaving your city, he's on his way.

On Tuesday, February 22nd, LA I was grateful to score a feature slot at "Natural High", a weekly open mic in Culver City at the Industry Cafe & Jazz (thank you so much to Shamako Noble, and Tamika for hooking this up!) When I walked in, "Natural High" bandleader Hank G was holding down the venue, playing guitar and drums at the same time he was rapping and singing, with a 6 year old rhythmic genius, Singha, playing bongos. It was nuts! Soon, he was joined by the host, OSmith, a very talented vocalist and emcee, warming up the stage as the band behind him grew every minute. The vibe was so authentically dope, I was happy to ditch my beats and do my tracks over their music. Although I didn't catch everyone who was up there that night, notable emcees, singers, poets, and musicians that touched the stage included Mark Minor, Ayce Sly, Lady Basco, Ms. Sho (also Cali Quake football player #28), Verbs, Jazz Oh, Substance TGL, Spiv, Ashley-Dominique, Devi Wonder, and of course my girl Kandi Cole. I gotta send extra love to Jazz and Devi for opening up their home to us for the afterparty kicking it. These are incredibly gifted individuals, and hopefully we can get them to come join us up here on the tip of the west coast very soon.

On the 23rd, Kandi Cole brought us to the show in Silverlake at a spot called Little Temple, where we got to meet Devious, founder of (SIS)TEM: an LA female emcee conglomerate, and see some local cats rock. The night marked the release of Medusa's new single "Chocolet Giddy Up." In addition to DJ Tommy Blak, Val the Vandal, and the queen of LA underground herself, we saw some cold performances from Alter'd Ego, 5 Footaz (This is a raid! Everybody lay down and behave...), and Tabernacle.

Couple days later, on the 25th, I got in the studio with Veteran Eye from Veteran Assassins and Kandi Cole, laying some HEAT. I also got to reconnect with the super duper fresh n dope DJ Eskimo One, and got to meet North Carolina's Luv Jonz too. Rapping, laying tracks, eating some amazing BBQ, and chilling with good folks? Hard to beat, for real. Be on the look out for that track and more...

On February 26th, Spiv, one of the artists we connected with at Natural High invited me to come out and rock at "The Grind" presented by GorillaMic and Streets of Venice at Westfield/ Fox Hills mall, hosted by Verbs & Ashley-Dominique. It was too good an opportunity to pass up! The all ages event featured prizes and giveaways, live silk screening, henna tattoos, hair cuts from Snagneto (also a dope emcee!), half pipe S.K.A.T.E Competition, Live Art by Annie Preeze, Rae Kiaha, and more, as well as music from myself, The Sirens, CHUUWEE, Belvi, Richard Wright, and Kleeo Williams, plus selectas DJ Lord Ron and DJ Swoops.

The Extra Shout Out Section:

Big ups to indy journalists and singer/emcees Entrigue and Vivid from UntappedMusik for interviewing me before the Skate Party. It was great talking to these savvy sistas, and Seattle, stay on the look out for their new mag and website spotlighting untapped Northwest talent, linked above! I also have to send tons of love to the amazing Jen from Jennifer Mary Photography, and Danielle Wolfe, M.A.C Makeup extraordinaire for HOOKING ME UP on my photoshoot this month. (And also to Roderick Johnson of FlavaNews for hooking up the cameras!) If any of y'all artists need flicks or makeup, these are the people to get at! Also thank you Page One of Mean Mouse Designs for my super official ambigram and business cards.

In addition, I wanted to shout out all the LA People I didn't quite catch up with on this round: MP from 90.7fm KPFK and Rebels to the Grain, DJ Cheddy, and Big Rube, Mykill Miers, Asher Underwood from Mind of Makaveli, Lamar Glover from J.U.I.C.E., DJ Mark Luv from Zulu, and Seven Davis, Jr. I'm sorry I missed y'all, but I'll be back soon if I don't see you in the 206 first.