Rappers occupy Skid Row

"Make the invisible visible" were the parting words from front man Chuck D from Public Enemy as Operation Skid Row (a.k.a. Occupy Skid Row) drew to a close as darkness fell across 5th St. and Gladys Ave. in downtown Los Angeles.

Nate Dogg performance, Skid Row (central city east) Los Angeles

Remember when hip hop music was a voice of descent, a voice that gave social issues in the community a platform? Think of Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five's "The Message" or "White Lines."  See the video vault below for a blast from the past.

This event temporarily brought social issues back into the rap game which have evaporated as the music's popularity and acceptance has grown. During my restless youth, I gravitated towards the underground rap acts of the moment - KRS-One and BDP, Public Enemy and N.W.A captured the attention of a generation with their thunderous beats and provocative rhymes.

Chuck D (credit: L.A. Times)

The Occupy Skid Row event was headlined by Chuck D and Public Enemy (Flavor Flav, Professor Griff and the S1Ws) and was organized in cooperation with LA's Skid Row activist, General Jeff. His focus was to create a block party that "brings out Angelenos from other neighborhoods, so people see that the area isn't as scary as it once was," as reported by CurbedLA.

Earlier in the day the Chicano rapper Kid Frost and one-time Ice Cube collaborator and Grammy award winner, Yo-Yo, performed hit songs. I came just before sunset and got to witness the classic sounds of Egyptian Lover (with his King Tut dance moves) and Digital Underground's Money B. who rocked the crowd with Tupac's "I Get Around." The night ended with the G-rated lyrics from Dogg Pound member, Kurupt, and his G-Funk classic, "Ain't No Fun."

Get more dope on this event in this L.A. Times story. Read it here.

Operation Skid Row performances











Hip hop Video Vaults

Chuck D still hittin' hard...Arizona!

A Los Angeles-based collective has created a politically motivated canvas with rap hard hitter, Chuck D, of Public Enemy.

"By the Time I Got to Arizona"

What's up? The Arizona immigration law that kicked in in 2010 sent huge waves through the country and the world. The "problem" is that America is home to over 22 million illegal immigrants and the majority are of Hispanic origin. Although many states bordering Mexico have dealt with the immigrants, Arizona was the first to actually take a stand! There are a lot of blogs on the topic...here's just one on the pros and cons. (It was the first one that popped up on Google...I have political axe to grind!)

SceneFour is a creative branding agency that's been releasing music inspired artwork for a little while now - think RZA, Bootsy Collins and now Chuck D! Only 300 canvases (I guess digital prints) are signed and numbered by Chuck D....yours for only $500. A bit steep considering it looks like a high end signed poster print, but there are lots of payment plan options for real fans!

After a little bit of digging I realized there's a close partnership with hip hop legends Sway and King Tech and their art project, "When Art Imitates Life." It seems that SceneFour's high aesthetic and Sway and Tech legit hip hop roots results in these quality artwork releases.





 Check out the lyrics of the "...Arizona" below - waaaay ahead of its time!

"I'm countin' down to the day deservin'
Fittin' for a king
I'm waitin' for the time when I can
Get to Arizona
'Cause my money's spent on
The goddamn rent
Neither party is mine not the
Jackass or the elephant
20.000 nig niggy nigas in the corner
Of the cell block but they come
From California
Population none in the desert and sun
Wit' a gun cracker
Runnin' things under his thumb
Starin' hard at the postcards
Isn't it odd and unique?
Seein' people smile wild in the heat
120 degree
'Cause I wanna be free
What's a smilin' fact
When the whole state's racist
Why want a holiday F--k it 'cause I wanna
So what if I celebrate it standin' on a corner
I ain't drinkin' no 40
I B thinkin' time wit' a nine
Until we get some land
Call me the trigger man
Looki lookin' for the governor
Huh he ain't lovin' ya
But here to trouble ya
He's rubbin' ya wrong
Get the point come along

An he can get to the joint
I urinated on the state
While I was kickin' this song
Yeah, he appear to be fair
The cracker over there
He try to keep it yesteryear
The good ol' days
The same ol' ways
That kept us dyin'
Yes, you me myself and I'ndeed
What he need is a nosebleed
Read between the lines
Then you see the lie
Politically planned
But understand that's all she wrote
When we see the real side
That hide behind the vote
They can't understand why he the man
I'm singin' 'bout a king
They don't like it
When I decide to mike it
Wait I'm waitin' for the date
For the man who demands respect
'Cause he was great c'mon
I'm on the one mission
To get a politician
To honor or he's a gonner
By the time I get to Arizona

I got 25 days to do it
If a wall in the sky
Just watch me go thru it
'Cause I gotta do what I gotta do
PE number one
Gets the job done
When it's done and over
Was because I drove'er
Thru all the static
Not stick but automatic
That's the way it is
He gotta get his
Talin' MLK
Gonna find a way
Make the state pay
Lookin' for the day
Hard as it seems
This ain't no damn dream
Gotta know what I mean
It's team against team
Catch the light beam
So I pray
I pray everyday
I do and praise jah the maker
Lookin' for culture
I got but not here
From jah maker
Pushin' and shakin' the structure
Bringin' down the babylon
Hearin' the sucker
That make it hard for the brown
The hard Boulova
I need now
More than ever now
Who's sittin' on my freedah'
Opressor people beater
Piece of the pick
We picked a piece
Of land that we deservin' now
Reparation a piece of the nation
And damn he got the nerve
Another niga they say and classify
We want too much
My peep plus the whole nine is mine
Don't think I even double dutch
Here's a brother my attitude hit 'em
Hang 'em high
Blowin' up the 90s started tickin' 86
When the blind get a mind
Better start and earn while we sing it
Now
There will be the day we know those down and who will go." Public Enemy

#Rap and #Yale University Press - The Anthology of Rap

A new book charting the rise of rap music has been released by Yale University Press. "The Anthology of Rap" was written by Andrew Bradley and Andrew DuBois two Professors of English at the University of Colorado and the University of Toronto.

Type bookstore, Canada

Why is rap so interesting to these academics of the English language? NPR recently interviewed Professor Andrew Bradley, one of the co-authors, and we learn how our favorite raps tunes can be broken down to the intricate lyrics, social commentary and syncopation. These Professors are telling us why we love these tunes!

"Now, even with my poor MCing skills, you can hear within that something pretty tremendous. And what that is, is this is what I've discovered by actually transcribing it [Rapper's Delight]. It's written in ballad stanza. This is the form of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner.' But it's also the form of the 'Gilligan's Island' theme, you know, the ballad stanza of storytelling form that's been with us in our culture and finds its way, whether intentionally or not, into these lyrics." Adam Bradley (Co-editor, "The Anthology of Rap") discussing The Sugarhill Gang's 1979 classic, "Rapper's Delight."

"The Anthology of Rap" explains how the original M.C.s were actually party D.J.s. And if you watch Doug Pray's 2002 "Scratch" documentary you'll also hear various hip hop legends explaining how the hip hop D.J. (or in the 70s more likely a break D.J.) ceded the spotlight to the M.C.

"What developed out of DJing was the very concept of MCing, of putting words in rhyme to the music. So some of the early innovators in the art of rapping are actually DJs: Eddie Cheeba, DJ Hollywood. Even Grandmaster Caz of the Cold Crush Brothers, these are people who started often as DJs and then made the transition into the lyrical art." Adam Bradley

Legends vs. The Hits This isn't a book about the best-selling rap records. There's no Vanilla Ice, M.C. Hammer or even Young M.C. The Anthology is about the lyrical prowess of rap and the artists that wrote those rhymes. In particular, Rakim is held in high regard. No doubt! God M.C.

"People had to go back and really start over with their lyrics once they heard Rakim. He's that kind of artist. Take one of his most famous lyrics, 'Microphone Fiend': 'I was a fiend before I became a teen. I melted microphones instead of cones of ice cream.' Just that little play of language." Adam Bradley

The Last Word

"What do I want people to take out of the book? I think I want people to take away a sense of rap in full. I think rap at its best is a keyhole into American culture over the last 30 plus years. It's a way in to think about all of the things that matter to us about this past four decades. And it's also something you can dance to. So how good is that?" Adam Bradley

Lottery funded film about Vinyl and Collectors

To Have & To Hold - Taster Tape from Jony Lyle on Vimeo.

Kirstin in Amsterdam hit me up on this short film on vinyl and the people that make it an important part of their lives. "To Have and To Hold" sounds crazy boring, but at the hands of the director, Jony Lyle, a co-founder of London's Scratch Club which has been making its mark on the UK hip hop scene for some time you really feel the passion folks still have for this victim of progress and technology. Lyle's teaser film is funded by the UK's National Lottery which is one good reason to continue to gamble although your mother warned you against it! ;)