February 2011

February 28, 2011March 3, 2011 C. Hannibal mexican culture

False Imprisonment

I can’t remember now who started making “Free” t-shirts. They weren’t always the thing to do when someone famous got locked up. If you aren’t stuck on the Spanish language tabloids, then maybe you didn’t hear about how Mexican authorities went on a questionable manhunt for pop singer Kalimba a little while ago. He was accused of raping an under age girl. Well, he’s free now and grinning an O.J. grin, only he probably really didn’t do it.

Kalimba first came to my attention sometime in 2009 when I was at a mega pop concert in Mexico City all the way in the nosebleed seats of Azteca Stadium. I could hear the crowd roar for this guy with his guitar hanging from his neck a mile up. He had that recognizable popstar quality that adolescents go crazy for. He’s plied his trade of singing and acting since childhood and is a regular on the Mexico City fashion scene.

I met him briefly during the Mercedes-Benz fashion event later that year. He was cordial, spoke good English and made a point to tell me that he was only 1/4 Cuban. Either way, skin color is always at the forefront when you’re in the public eye in a place like Mexico.

KALIMBA ART BY DANIEL ALVA.

February 28, 2011February 28, 2011 C. Hannibal mexican culture, visually speaking

Recordando D.F.

As I sit here working ~~procrastinating~~ on my thesis project, memories of Mexico snap on my brain like pop rocks. First thing that always hits me is the memory of one of my best friends on my old Roma Norte block, Beba, above. By some odd measure of Google technology, you can actually see Beba in her favorite spot if you map my old address.

Next up is the Mexican appreciation for street art. In all its vandalistic forms.

February 28, 2011February 28, 2011 C. Hannibal cultural history, mexican culture, music

Mexican BeatBox Battle

Hip-hop is either really innovative nowadays, or returning to its pre-80’s roots. The elements that’ve grounded hip-hop culture for the past three decades fell out of vogue on the home turf some time ago. Rappers over 40 see more paper by going to Europe than during a Rock the Bells tour. (Dave told me something to that effect.)

In Mexico, where hip-hop culture is trapped in a kind of pre-mainstream fabric that used to house it here in the U.S., the second installment of a beatbox contest will have its second competition. Beat boxing isn’t something you see a lot of rappers doing these days. It’s relegated to a Justin Timberlake gimmick. But for all you 80s babies, you know how often you’d hear someone beat boxing on the subway or on TV:

Beatbox Battle Mexico is the brainchild of Berlin b-boy, beat boxer Dj Mesia. He’s an ambassador for American-style hip-hop, and travels the world doing workshops and competitions. Two years ago, I traveled to the middle of nowhere in the state of Mexico to a bar where Mesia was holding the first beatbox battle. It was an impressive presentation with highly practiced Mexico kids and a grown-ass man here and there, spitting rhythms into a mic and trying to belittle their competitors. I remember a Michael Jackson impersonator with a mean routine out beat-boxed the competitors. Mesia told me that trips to Mexico to meet up with a girlfriend inspired him to start a beat box competition there. While German ties with Mexico are a couple centuries old, it’s interesting to see this transnational effort to keep hip-hop culture alive in the world.

This event is seriously in the middle of nowhere in the state of Mexico. Good for the local kids and a hallmark of hip-hop’s travelling powers, but hard as heck to find if you’re unfamiliar with travelling outside of Mexico City. Luckily, someone made a map for this event.

If you live in Mexico and want to enter the contest, e-mail producer Speedy speedysrecords@hotmail.com.

February 27, 2011February 28, 2011 C. Hannibal cultural history

Native tongues

If you’ve seen Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto and think you know all there is to know about Mexican indigenous culture, please stop reading my blog. Above, Nahuatl classes are being offered in New York City as part of a project to spread endangered languages. Nahuatl is the most common indigenous language spoken in Mexico and comes in several different flavors of dialects. The Mexican government takes some care with developing awareness for the endangered languages of its indigenous tribes, though not much in the way of making sure the people survive. It remains and insult to tell someone they look “indian” or “indigenous” in Mexico. Ask somebody.

Here’s some Nahuatl podcasts and recordings courtesy of the Mexican government. Take a listen, here.

You can check out the government website in English, here. According to the site:

The CDI was established as an institution for obligatory consultation on indigenous affairs for the Federal Public Administration complex, as well as for evaluation of government programs and actions and training of federal, state and municipal public servants for improving care for the indigenous population.

Yeah, I guess so.

Here’s some music that’s inspired and funky by Nahuatl Soundsystem. Two Eps are available for download, here.

Call it Aztec dub cumbia. Or as the bandcamp.com site says “

Aztec/Cumbia/Dub/Electronic/Reggae music collective originally from the roots of Tenochtitlan in Mexico, Afro-latin roots in Colombia, Andiean Mountains in Argentina and Downunder Australia.”

(Click on cover art to play)

February 26, 2011February 26, 2011 C. Hannibal cultural history, music

Regional Mex Grind

I was reading a flier for Nahuatl Classes going down in Queens. It reminded me that the regional Mexican music scene is diverse enough to accommodate a group that sings in Mixteca. New York, already a melting pot of cultures, is the melting pot of indigenous languages as well, so says the NYT.

February 24, 2011 C. Hannibal Racially Speaking

Black

If I didn’t have a thesis project due in less than a month I would really break down how the video post here is related to this New York Times piece, which provoked a lot of responses.

February 24, 2011February 26, 2011 C. Hannibal buildings, cultural history

Diner Passion in Jersey

Diners are to New Jersey what hot dog and pretzel carts are to New York. I’ll take the 24-hour ubiquity of the diners over some dude slamming a dog between two buns and slathering mustard on it (with a big exception: Gray’s Papaya ). The diner pictured here is the Skylark. Moms took me here after a reporting trip to Philly. I’ve been to many Jersey diners in my day and I don’t remember this one. On your way to the bathroom hallway lights flickr in a sequence. One, two, three…then all of them light up at once. It’s kind of cool and very kitschy, just like an NJ diner should be.

For lots of N.J. diner suggestions, look here.

February 20, 2011February 20, 2011 C. Hannibal digital media

Moms connected

The city, covered in white pillows, can’t match the ‘burb’s when they bristle with snow crystals. I don’t see the suburbs that much. When the snow was already pretty much melted all away I found myself in the Bronx. What you’re about to see is for the children. Made by children, me and Semi, breaking day at the edit bay.

Always get your Bronx news from my City News Room class site: Bronxink.org

Snow photo from: Makinglifefit.com

February 18, 2011February 18, 2011 C. Hannibal cultural history, digital media

You Will Be Assimilated

I hope my Star Trek nerds get the headline to this post.

Not too long ago, I reached out to T.A.N and he wrote me back. I was sitting at work, wishing and hoping for greener pastures. The idea of writing for a living–just writing–was a concept I didn’t think possible. Although I’m making the right moves right now, I still have yet to prove I can sustain a 401k on checks from my writing prowess alone.

Patrice Evans, who blogs as The Assimilated Negro told me in his reply that not only was living off words possible, but if you really tried hard enough, it could be a reality. This coming from a guy who made it seem like his only entry into writing was his curiosity about life. Later he tells me he was an aspiring rapper. Blame hip-hop.

On the cusp of publishing his first book, this spoken word, blogging hero of mine is rolling through the halls of the academy to break down what makes an opinionated blogger rise to the top. I know a lot of people want a piece of that knowledge. Stay tuned.

**Flier by @angELLEnise

**update:

I think we’re going to change this flier because T.A.N tells me there’s a new book design. These things are fluid in the publishing industry. Holler.